Pokemon Periwinkle: It's Real
by pikachuhunter1
Summary: Pokemon Periwinkle was an ordinary game, until me and my two friends were sucked inside. Now, we've been turned into Pokemon, and us and our new friends are on the run from the evil Team Blasters. This will be fun.
1. The Tornado

A/N: Hello, and welcome to Pokemon Periwinkle: It's Real! Welcome to the first arc of the story, which lasts for 58 chapters (59 according to the scroll box). I have constructed the story in a way in which you are not required to understand the first arc to enjoy the second one (which stars at chapter 59, 60 according to the scroll box). So if you're feeling lazy, you can skip the first arc, though I highly encourage you to read through it. You might enjoy it.

Well, thanks for coming and I hope you enjoy reading!

**Arc 1**: Begin

Chapter 1: The Tornado

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I only own my own characters and my plot.

"Yes!! It's here! It's finally here!" I cried as I tore the plastic off the box. Inside was a game that I had been waiting for, for nearly a year. "Pokemon: Periwinkle Version." I stated triumphantly. On the cover was a Torchic and Turtwig fighting each other with their special attacks. Beneath them were a Squirtle and a Chikorita engaged in similar combat. I quickly turned it over on its back to read the description.

'Become a Pokemon! Travel through both the Hoenn and Sinnoh regions while fighting trainers and avoiding getting captured. Counter the horrifying Team Blasters. Find out what they're up to and put them out of business for good, even as you go through many emotional and harsh experiences of your own.

Choose from an astonishing list of fifty pokemon to start out with. Find companions as you travel through cities, defeating gym leaders with your new friends. Link up with the world using wi-fi connection to find real time friends playing the game with you. You can also choose to play the game by yourself or with up to three other people near you. Get ready to jump into the Pokemon world!'

I held my breath as my eyes scanned the last few lines and picked up my cell phone. I ran through the contacts list and called my close friend, Rachel. "Hi Rachel, did you get the new Pokemon game yet?"

"Yeah, I got it like an hour ago. Why?" I noticed a confused tone in her voice.

"Read the back. You'll know why. Get over to the local hangout ASAP; we're going to be in this game together!" I responded excitedly, practically jumping off the walls. If there was anything I loved, it was a Pokemon game. People called me nerd and dork for that, but I didn't care, I LOVED Pokemon!

She paused before she began talking again. "Oh, I get it now. You going to call Gregor too? He'd love to join the game with us. I saw him at the game store picking it out so he's already got it too."

"Okay. I'll call him. Be thinking about your pokemon. I'll meet you there in about half an hour with Gregor. Bye!" I turned off the phone and then ran through it again until I found Gregor on the list.

I called him up and he agreed to meet with us to play the game. "It would be fun to go into the game with my friends anyway," he'd told me. I hung up the phone, just as excited as before, and picked up my Pikachu doll.

"See ya, Pikachi." I told it and held it in a tight hug. I then set it down with the rest of my Pokemon plushes. Pikachi always sat right beside my Growlithe doll, up in the front of all my dolls so I could see them easily. "Bye." I said to the rest and grabbed my backpack, sticking my gameboy and the new game into it.

Half an hour later, the three of us sat in front of the giant oak in a small park. Most teenagers hung out here and we were no exception. There was no one here right then so we didn't have to worry about being embarrassed with our Pokemon games.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked my two best friends in the world. They nodded in reply. We all turned on our games simultaneously. All the known starters came onto the screen. They moved into four groups of three, separating themselves by generation. The groups moved into the four corners and faced the center. They all began charging up attacks and released them at one another. The screen became covered with red, blue, and green colors. The screen then shined with a periwinkle color as the silhouette of a Lugia using Psychic appeared.

'Press Start,' the words blinked on the torso of the Lugia. We each slowly raised our heads from the game. "That was awesome." Gregor squeaked.

"Just wait 'till we actually start the game. Then we'll get to the _awesome _part." I countered.

"Well, we're not going to get anything done if we keep staring at each other." Rachel added. The clouds overhead became purple and seemed to rush with anger.

"Maybe we should go inside. The weather's not looking too good." I proposed innocently.

"Aww, is Princess Cecilia afraid of some purple clouds? I'll escort you to your castle." Gregor teased.

"Hey! You watch it!" I scowled, "I'm not scared, I just figured you guys would start being babies when something bad happened." I took my seat next to the tree and picked up my gameboy from where I had dropped it in my fury. "Now let's get started with this game."

We all pressed start. The screen went black and the first question came up. 'Are you playing by yourself or with friends?' We each selected the 'With friends' option. The next question came up, 'Are you a boy or a girl?' We each picked our gender respectively. The next question was, 'Pick the Pokemon you would like to play as.' The names of more than fifty pokemon came into view. "Oh… my… gosh." I rasped. There it was, Growlithe. My Growlithe. I couldn't wait to play as it.

"Who are you picking?" Rachel asked Gregor.

"I'm getting the best pokemon ever, of course. None other than the amazing, Pigdey!" He explained to us.

"Why am I not surprised," she said sarcastically, "I'm getting a Squirtle. I'm sure you're going to get a Growlithe, right Celli?" She asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Am I that predictable?" I answered, feigning insult. "Well anyway we had best get back to the game. Man, the rain's getting bad." We had to shelter our gameboys with our bodies to keep rain from getting on them. Lightning flashed uncomfortably close to us. The clouds began to twist in a circular motion. We all made our selections and pressed 'Okay.' We waited for the next question. Unfortunately, we didn't get that far.

The howl of the wind picked up rapidly, like a jet airplane getting ready for takeoff. We all tore our eyes from the screens in surprise. The clouds had funneled up into a small twister. It was growing by the minute. Dirt was scattered around us, making it hard to see.

"What's going on?" I yelped. The wind threatened to take my gameboy. I held it tighter in response.

"Hold on to the person nearest you! If we stay together, we might be able to get out of this!" I heard Rachel scream through the dirt. "Don't lose your gameboy!" She yelled. How could she care about the gameboys at a time like this? They were three hundred dollars and had our new Pokemon games in them. I guessed that was reason enough.

I put out my hand to grab someone. It landed on someone to my right. I clutched a grisly arm with my hand. It was Gregor! He grabbed my hand in response. Not a moment too soon either. I was beginning to lift off the ground! "Do you have Rachel?" I asked.

"Yes. She's got my other arm." I heard above the gale force winds. I suddenly felt lighter. I held Gregor arm tighter, using both hands this time, fearing the worst (we had all tucked our gameboys safely into our backpacks, which were secured to us, leaving our hands free). It didn't help. Gregor was being lifted into the air by the now tornado also, which meant Rachel was lifted too.

The tornado thrashed us through the air. I almost lost my grip a few times, but I held tight. I screamed, but nothing came out. My throat was all sorts of scratchy and dry, it wasn't comfortable at all. Something big came into view in front of us. I couldn't make out what it was because of my blurred vision. I was suddenly hit with such a hard blow that I almost let go of Gregor's arm.

My head suddenly began to hurt extremely badly. My vision filled with every color of the rainbow with black tinges on the edges. I was vaguely aware of falling, my arms still clinging to Gregor. Orange blurred my vision as I fell to ground. My body reunited with the ground, hard. Everything quickly went black.


	2. New

Chapter 2: New

A/N: Okay then, just so you guys know, this chapter's been edited. So it's like 10x better!! Enjoy.

Chapter 2: New

"Whoa. What a trip," I muttered, my eyes tightly shut. I had hit my head quite hard after that fall and it throbbed. Groaning, I finally forced my eyes to open. There was no way to brace for what I saw next. The moment I opened my eyes, the face of a Squirtle was looking down at me.

"Ahhhh!!" I screamed, coming to my senses faster than I ever thought possible. I jumped off the ground in one fluid movement and found that I couldn't stand; I fell down on myself and rolled on the ground. That was when I noticed something odd about my arms. They were fiery orange and covered with fur. Black streaks ran across them at unclear intervals. At the ends of my new arms were paws, bright orange paws. "What's going on?!" I screeched.

"Calm down," beckoned the Squirtle. It had moved around to face me and rolled its eyes.

"W-Who are y-you?" I asked it, fear frozen in my eyes. I tried to pull myself up again, to back away, but I landed right back on my belly.

"It's okay, Celli. It's just me, Rachel. You took quite the hit on the head. Gregor went to see where we're at." She said calmly, trying to keep me sane. She stifled a giggle at my totally confused expression.

"Okay, but…um…where are we?" I asked her while trying to stand again. Unsuccessful, again.

"Didn't I just tell you that that's what Gregor was going to figure out!?" She asked, throwing her arms against her side. She sighed and looked away, searching for an answer to my question. "I don't know really, but I think we might be in the game. That's what Gregor said anyway. Personally, I have no idea." I pulled my back legs under me and got my forelegs up too. I slowly rose up and found myself standing on all four paws. "We turned into the Pokemon we picked on the game. It only makes sense."

"But Pokemon aren't real." I countered, my eyes narrowing.

"I know, but the tornado may have changed that. Gregor said that it may have transferred us into this world. We all blacked out and that was when we turned into Pokemon. You can ask him more when he gets back. He should be here soon." She said, using her arms to demonstrate.

"Okay….Since when do natural disasters do stuff like this!?" I asked, my temper slipping up a bit. She looked at me straight in the eyes.

"I don't know, Celli, I just don't know." She said and shook her head pathetically. She turned and walked towards the end of the clearing. She sat down and stared ahead. I don't know what emotion that was on her face, some mix of anger, sadness, and happiness. They each took turns showing on her face.

I took the time to get a look at my new surroundings and myself, for that matter. We were in a small clearing in the woods. There was a clear spring pond near the edge of the clearing. There was no sign left of the tornado and nothing around us looked damaged in any way. 'What really happened?' I asked myself. I didn't think I'd ever get that answer so I pushed it aside and continued looking around.

It was quite bright in the clearing and the grass was perfectly green. It was a lovely day that lifted my spirits, if only slightly. I tried to get a look at my body, but it was a little too hard to see. When I looked down, there was no body, meaning it was behind me. I decided the best way to find out what I looked like would be to look at myself in the spring.

Now was the hard part, how do I walk? I lifted my right forepaw and placed it in front of me. I instantly felt off balance and caught myself with by back left leg. I felt balanced again. Now in this new position, I took the same steps with my left front leg and my right back leg. I was moving! I continued the cycle and proclaimed myself with the ability to walk on four legs. It was a good feeling.

After about fifteen minutes, I didn't even have to think of walking in order to do so. It was second nature. I walked over to the spring to get a look at myself. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw.

I wasn't me. Well, I was me, but there wasn't a human feature about me. I stared at the dog-thing that was my reflection and suddenly knew why Rachel was having such mixed emotions. 'We'll never fit in back at home,' I thought, my ears drooping in the reflection. I sat down like the dog I was and began to cry.

A/N: There! Second chapter edited and fixed up. It's still short though. Oh well, after I finish editing the whole thing, then I may go back and make stuff longer. Maybe…review please!

Pika!


	3. Charmander

A/N: Yes! It's the long awaited…Chapter 3-Charmander!!! Hopefully y'all weren't waiting too long, though. Enjoy!

Chapter 3-Charmander

I was still crying when I saw a Pidgey fly in over head. Rachel looked up too. I jumped in surprise and ran to the side of the clearing. I looked back in time to see it landing in the middle of the clearing.

"We're a little to the West of Littleroot Town," the Pidgey said. I walked a little bit closer to the Pidgey, curiosity filling my eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked the brown and white bird.

"I'm Gregor, didn't you know that? I am your best friend after all." He eyed me suspiciously.

"Oh, sorry," I said, letting out a giggle, "I just woke up not long ago and I'm really confused. So we really are in the game now, aren't we?"

"Yep, I even saw a couple of Pokemon Trainers while I was flying around." Gregor cawed.

"Well, since we're here, we might as well get used to it." Rachel said, jumping into the conversation.

"Maybe we should look for a Pokemon Center, it'll be night soon." I put in trying to change the subject.

"Okay then, but remember, watch out for trainers. I'll keep an eye out in the sky for trainers and call to you guys if I see one. Stay safe." With that, Gregor flew above the trees slightly ahead of us.

"Let's go," I muttered to Rachel. We started across the clearing to the mysterious woods beyond.

We walked for at least an hour before we saw the peaks of buildings in the distance. "Look!" I cried, filled with sudden joy. The sun was steadily setting and we didn't have much time to get there before dark.

"Watch out!!" Gregor called from overhead. I heard a scrabble in the bushes ahead. A red paw flashed out into the open. Another one soon followed.

"Charrr," it growled steadily, not yet fully visible. It quickly finished getting out of the bush and stepped into our small clearing.

Rachel recognized it faster than I did and started to slowly back away. "Charmander," she spat. The red dragon towered over me, looking me over. A human quickly ran up behind it.

"Great job, Cinder!" he cried, "You found the newest members of our team! Use ember!!" The fire lizard opened his mouth and unleashed a stream of fire onto both of us. As it went over me, I felt…nothing. If anything, I felt stronger. Rachel recoiled sharply, but it didn't look like she got hurt very much.

Suddenly, out of anger most likely, Rachel shot a rush of water at the foe, while I jumped up and used scratch. The red dragon fell over clutching its wounds. "Cinder!" The boy yelped. "Hurry, get inside!" He held up a red and white ball, most likely a pokeball. A red light flashed from its middle engulfing the Charmander and pulling it into the easy to carry ball. The red light gave a final flash and everything was as it was before. The boy ran towards the town, cradling the ball and cooing compliments and reassurance to it, before long he was gone.

"Are you guys okay?" A Pidgey flew down and landed on a branch close to us.

"Yeah, we're fine. Thanks for the warning." I said, smirking.

"Hey, I told you to watch out." Gregor admitted meekly.

"True." I stated.

"We better keep going if we want to get anywhere close to the town. I can barely see!" The Squirtle turned and began walked to Littleroot.

"We better get moving too." Gregor said and flew upwards to get his high vantage point. I ran to catch up with Rachel, surprised at my speed.

A/N: If anyone reads these chapters then I would love to know. It would make my day if someone were to review my stories.


	4. Pokemon Center

A/N: Hello everyone. This is the last chapter I can add on for two weeks, just as a warning. I hope you all enjoy this great chapter in the Pokemon Periwinkle series. Lots of action in this one, btw. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Pokemon Center

We finally got into Littleroot just as the sun was setting. Gregor flew down to us while we walked. "It took us long enough to get here. Man that was so slow." He stated impatiently.

"Well at least we're here now." I said confidently. The streetlights loomed around us as we looked for a Pokemon Center. 

"Do either of you guys know where the Center is? I'm ready for a good night's sleep." Rachel said stubbornly.

"I think it was in that direction." Gregor said, tilting his head to the right. He flew higher to check. "Yep, there it is." He called as he returned.

"Let's go then." I commanded, tired of sitting around and talking. Gregor flew low overhead while Rachel walked beside me. The shortest way to the Center seemed to be through a small alleyway to the right. I ran toward it. My friends got the picture and raced after me. I was the first to set foot in the narrow space. A small dumpster was sitting at the entrance, but I scaled it easily on my swift paws. After dropping to the other side, I was met with a sight that would make any Pokemon my size whimper in terror.

"Well, Ironhead, what have we here?" A dark figure appeared behind the huge Pokemon. "A wimpy little Growlithe s'all? I think we should have a little training practice with it." The Aggron screeched in response. It lowered its head and began to rampage into me. 

"Ahhhh!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. The Aggron continued to pile drive into me. I was frozen to the spot, too scared to move. I closed my eyes and waited for the hit. It never came. A siren's wail riddled my ears instead. Slowly I opened my eyes to see the dark figure, now bathed in light, fleeing from his pursuers. I got a good look at him before he left my view. He was about medium height, no more than sixteen years old. He wore an old, beat up jean jacket and a blue shirt with a Lugia on it. He had on jeans with many holes in them. I would never forget the fire that burned in his eyes as he fled the scene, his shaggy brown hair flailing in his wake.

"What happened?" Rachel plopped down beside me. The surrounding environment became peaceful once more.

"I-I don't know. There was a huge Aggron and it tried to attack me. I was frozen and scared to death. Its trainer was merciless. Those bright lights and the policemen saved from something that could have been far worse." I lowered my head in shock.

"Are you okay now? That must have been almost impossible bear. You're not hurt are you?" She asked, concerned. 

"I'm fine; let's get to that Pokemon Center. We'll be safe now." Gregor was circling overhead as I told what happened. His face was twisted in bewilderment.

"I hope not every day is as crazy as this one. All the perks of being a Pokemon." He said slyly.

"There's the Center!" I cried, readily changing the subject. They both turned towards where I was pointing. A huge red and white building stood in front of us, a large Pokeball was blinking at the top along with the words, 'Pokemon Center.' We ran to the door marked 'Pokemon only,' and hurried in. 

"Hello, you three." A pink haired lady told us, "I'm Nurse Sabrina. Would you like a room for the night?" She asked.

"Yes!" We all said in unison, knowing it was not the way she heard it, but it worked all the same.

"Okay, right this way," she said giddily. She walked up some stairs and beckoned us to follow by waving her hand. A set of smaller, Pokemon-sized stairs ran next to the human-sized ones. We scrambled the smaller stairs to catch up with her. Once we leveled off, she took us down a long, white hallway lined with doors. 

"Okay here we are. Room 407. Large room with flying and agility course, plus a small pool. Make yourselves at home. If you need anything," she said while leaning down to hang a small card with a button on it around my neck, "just press that button and one of us will be up here in an instant." With that, she showed us how to enter the room through a Pokemon flap at the bottom, and then turned to leave. 

"Enjoy yourselves!" She called over her shoulder. We nodded at her in turn.

"Let's have a look at our room!" Gregor said happily. We all entered through the flap and gazed in wonder at the room.

"Wow." I rasped. The room was huge! A five foot deep pool was on the left side and our small Pokemon beds on the right. Hoops hung high over head for aerial Pokemon and an obstacle course designed to help agility spread out across the room.

"This is going to be great." The Squirtle said, eyeing the pool, "I wonder how fast a Squirtle can swim." She thought out loud. Gregor was already flying up to look at the hoops. Soon, he was spinning and darting through them.

"I'm going to the obstacle course." I said, running to the start of it. Rachel jumped and dove into the pool.

"I feel completely adapt to swim around in here. It's so cool!" Rachel's voice cried out above my rapid paw steps.

"I know! It's great." I replied before enhancing my speed even more to dodge the many obstacles in my way. 

"I've never been in a place as great and fun as this. I love it!" Gregor called from above, swooping down so he could get through all the hoops. I had yet to grow tired. I felt a rush of energy every time I stepped away from an obstacle. 

I felt like crying for joy, the Aggron incident seemed to have happened years ago. I couldn't care less about it now. Suddenly a deep growl ahead of me interrupted my thoughts.

A small four-legged figure stepped out of a large rock on the obstacle course. It growled again, its eyes narrowing at me in an intense glare.

A/N: There you have it. Another great chapter by me, pikachuhunter1. I hope y'all enjoyed it. Don't be afraid to leave a review, even if it is just criticism. The first person to review my story will be cherished forever. No profanity on the reviews please. Any suggestions for future occurrences will be greatly appreciated. If you have an idea for a new character- human or Pokemon, please submit in a review. Thanks,

Pika! 


	5. The Warning

Chapter 5: A New Addition

A/N: I hope this was a little surprise, seeing that the last chapter said two weeks and I got this up in much less than that! Thank you, rainbowriter96, for my first review, it was very kind of you. Thank you to Lance100usa, FooFooCudlyPoops, Pokebuddykid, and TurtleShroom for reviewing. (Sorry if I spelled any of your names wrong.)

The three main characters speak in Pokemon only, their speech has been translated into English for the ease of reading. Thank you, TurtleShroom, for bringing this into my attention.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!

Chapter 5: The Warning

"Get out of my territory," it growled. I slowly began to recognize it. Its body was jet black with an orange belly and paws of the same color. Silver bands striped its back. It had a sharp canine head and pricked ears. '_A Houndour!_' I decided at last.

"Well, are you going to leave or do I need to chase you out?" The Houndour considered.

"Chase me out? I should be chasing _you _out!" I snarled. "What are you doing here? We got this room for the night!"

"It's my job to get you out of here. Now, you and all your little friends." He taunted. His expression suddenly softened, but turned back into an angry snarl after a heartbeat. "I wish I didn't have to but,… consider yourselves warned: get out now or face dreadful consequences." With that, he turned around and stalked back to his cave. I glared at him the entire way. After he went out of view, I turned back to the obstacle course to continue the exercise. I couldn't find any joy in it now though, it seemed as if the encounter with the Houndour had blown it all away.

'_What did he mean by all that?_' I thought. '_What kind of consequences could he have been talking about?_' All the questions swirled around my head, unanswered. I trotted over to one of the Pokemon beds to think.

"Why aren't you playing around with all this cool stuff?" Gregor asked me. He flew down from the aerial hoops when he saw me lying around.

"It's nothing…well it's something. Here, I'll tell you about it." I began. I told him about the Houndour and his warning. Rachel came to listen while I was retelling what happened. "So what do you think the warning means?" I finished.

Rachel was the first to speak up. "I don't know, Celli, but I think we should be very careful tonight when we go to sleep. Everyone needs to be on the alert. Who knows what could happen." We all nodded in agreement.

Soon after, we all got ready for bed. '_We've not even been Pokemon for a day yet and we've had enough experiences to last a million years! What's the world come to?_' I thought desperately, hoping tomorrow would be better.

"Good night you guys!" I called to Gregor and Rachel.

"Good night Celli!" They said in unison before exchanging 'good nights' among themselves.

I was sitting on a beach with a soda in my hand. I had on my favorite swimsuit and my entire family was out on the sand. I got up and began walking towards to ocean when I noticed I wasn't a Growlithe. I instantly realized that I was dreaming, but decided to enjoy the dream all the same. I continued walking for the ocean and saw a shimmering blue Pokemon walk out of the surf.

"Hello!" I called to the Vaporeon. It padded over to meet me.

"Hello," it answered, "Do not be alarmed when you hear me talk. I'm only a figment of your imagination, but I wish to help you by reminding you what you have learned in the past." I stared in awe at the little dream-Pokemon.

"Umm…thanks," I muttered to my creative imagination. Maybe it really could help me, when I couldn't remember, but, seeing that it is my imagination, things could be exaggerated. I decided to trust it for now. "Do you have anything to…um…remind me of?" I asked it.

"Yes, remember this: stand up for others, only then can you stand up for yourself." The Vaporeon told me knowingly. "And this, strategy is better than brawn. You learned both of these from playing videogames!" It said.

"Okay. So you mean something bad is going to happen? Something worse than so far today?" I asked it.

"Yes. Or at least something bad is bound to happen anyway." It turned its head to the side as if remembering something. "Oh, and you will meet a Pokemon along the way. She will love the ocean and you will find her by saving her from her greatest love. I can't tell you her name or what she is right now, but you will find her soon. She will help guide you. Good luck, Cecilia." She began to fade before I could ask her what she meant.

"Wait!" I called, but the Vaporeon was gone. My surroundings began to quaver and fade. A quick darkness swallowed up everything.

I blinked my eyes open with a start. I was a Pokemon again, proving the dream for what it was. I noticed I was moving, but not on my own legs. I looked around, confused. A stainless steel cage was over top of me and I was lying on the grated bottom. I stood up, instantly on the alert. I saw Rachel and Gregor in identical cages like my own being carried by shady figures down a dark hallway. They were still asleep.

"Grrr…" I growled at the man holding my cage. I let out a vigorous ember. The man didn't even flinch. I tried to ram myself into the cage in a vain attempt to escape, but nothing worked.

"Stop that," scolded the man, "you'll wake the whole building!" I continued to growl and bark, not caring what he thought about it.

"I said to stop, you stupid furball!" The man whacked my cage. I felt so shaken up, I might as well have been in an earthquake! "Here, this oughta shut you up!" The man stuck a large needle into my shoulder. The tranquilizer took instant effect and I drifted in to unconsciousness.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter, everyone! It was quite hard to think up the part with the dream. What do you think will happen to the trio? I would love to hear opinions.

Remember the Pokemon mentioned by Vaporeon? I still need an OC to take that place. IF you send one in on a review with personality, description, likes, and dislikes, then I will use it. If not for this character, I'll use it for a future character. I appreciate all reviews and I am willing to answer questions. Thanks,

Pika!!


	6. Rin

Chapter 6: Rin

A/N: Hello everyone!! Welcome to chapter 6! Thank you noname227, Sailor Nibaru, and srgeman for the ideas. They will be used in the story. Thank you Guitar-Blonde-Is-A-Baka for Rin. She's very important in this chapter. Thanks again Mew!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!!

Chapter 6: Rin

I awoke with a start, slowly regaining movement in my legs. I opened my eyes slowly to see that I was in a different cage now. This one was much bigger and had shavings on the bottom. '_They think we're hamsters!' _I thought angrily, tempted to torch the little wooden pieces. My friends were around, all of us in one cage. The room outside was dark with a single bulb lighting up our cage in the center. I ran over to nudge my friends awake.

"Get up!" I shouted at Gregor.

"F-Five more minutes…" He stammered. I used ember on his tail feathers. He shot up, all signs of sleep drawn out of him. "What's your pro-." He stopped as soon as he noticed the cage. "Where are we?" He asked, dazed.

"I think we were caught by the people that Houndour tried to warn us about." I explained steadily. "Go wake up Rachel and tell her, we have a lot to talk about." Gregor flew over to wake Rachel.

I began to walk the perimeter of the cage, watching out for anything unexpected. I went full circle and found that our cage was at least twenty feet long and ten feet wide, but nothing odd. I ran up to Rachel and Gregor to report this. They nodded understandingly.

I spoke first, "How should we escape?" They stared out, likely thinking desperately of any means of escape. Before either of them could reply, the door swung open and a large man with a black outfit on stepped in. I could see a rocket emblem on his jacket with the words- "Team Blaster. Rank: Grunt." A Vulpix followed in behind him.

"So, Firebreath," he said looking at the Vulpix, "are these the new prisoners?" The man said, jerking a large finger in our direction. Firebreath barked loudly. The man moved towards our cage. "They'll make good starters for the new grunts when they come in at orientation. I would've wanted that Growlithe. She looks like she could do our dirty work pretty easily."

I growled at him with more fierceness than I thought I had in me. I even bared my teeth at the approaching man. Firebreath struggled after half-heartedly. "Looks like someone's got an attitude." He taunted. I growled with anger and shot a pillar of flame into his face the second he was within firing distance.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" he screamed, covering his face with his hand. He ran out the door, on the verge of crying. Firebreath ran up to the cage.

"What do you want?" I snarled menacingly. My friends had long since fled to the back of the cage. Firebreath sat down pleasantly in front of me.

"My name's Rin." The she-Vulpix said. "That trainer dubbed me with Firebreath, but I hate it." I stared at her in confusion. '_How can she make small talk in a time like this?!'_ I wondered.

"Er…um…okay." I responded unsurly. She nodded, then continued.

"My friend, Blacktail- the Houndour who warned you yesterday told me everything. Even how you reacted." She looked at the cage. "Obviously, you didn't take his advice." She added dryly.

"You think?" I asked sarcastically. "Well…_Rin…_we're sort of stuck here now. If you're looking for an apology to Blacktail, then tell him we're sorry."

"No, that's not it, I came to break you out." I softened my expression quickly.

"You'd do that?" I asked happily. Gregor and Rachel came out from behind me.

"Sure! There's a catch though. If I let you out, then you have to let me join you." She bartered, then stared at us steadily, waiting for an answer.

"Hold on, let me consider this with my friends for a minute." I turned around and my friends did the same. "Can we trust her?" I asked them. They both thought about it for a second before saying anything.

"I think we can," Rachel declared, "I mean, she is offering us a way to escape." She considered.

"Yeah, I agree, with Rachel. But we should ask her why she wants to come with us, it may be a trap." Gregor added.

"What if she lies?" I asked.

"We'll find out if she does. We should just trust her for now." Gregor said.

"Ok, then. We'll let her stay with us." I decided. "Come on." I said, turning around to see Rin's face locked in an expression of curiosity. "You may go with us." I told her simply. "But, if you set one paw wrong, then you're out of here." I told her. She jumped with joy and ran over to one of the corners of the cage. "Before you let us out, would you mind telling us why you want to go with us?"

"I hate this place." She stated. "My trainer is horribly mean and expects way too much of me. He beats me when I don't do well enough, which is almost every battle, and rarely gives me any food. He wants me to perform like a Groudon it seems like."

"Well, I see why you want to go with us now. We're not that much better off, though. We just barely get by on berries." She gave me a look of longing. "Well, I guess it's better than, feel free to tag along with us."

"Thanks!" She cried loudly. She worked her paws on a numeral lock on the cage's door. She worked silently for several minutes before giving a shout. "It's open!" She screamed and pushed the door in. "Now, let's get out of here."

We all scrambled out toward the door. "Come on! This way!" She said, turning to the left once she was out of the doorway. She led us down a long hallway until we came to the end. "Here we are!" She said pointing with her nose at a Pokemon door. We ran through and into a large yard surrounded by electric fence.

"How do we get through the fence?" I asked Rin as she ran towards one end of the fence.

"I made a hole over there with Blacktail back when we were pups. It should still be there, none of the grunts have noticed yet." She called over her shoulder. She dived into the hole. I didn't see it until I was right on it, I jumped in afterward. Rachel was right behind me and Gregor had already flown over the fence. I popped up on the other side and continued running until the Team Blasters HQ was out of sight.

I dived behind a bush and noticed Rin was already there, catching her breath. "Are we safe?" I asked breathlessly.

"For now." She said, equally tired.

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. You can still submit Pokemon and humans, btw. Rin's not the OC for Vaporeon's prophecy. Just remember to put personality, description, etc. on the review.

How did you guys like this chapter? Was it good or bad? Is this story, in all, any good? Thanks for any opinions you may send in a review for these questions. Thanks again, Mew!

Please review!!

Pika!!


	7. Rin's Story

Chapter 7

A/N: Hello everyone!! Thank you to FooFooCudlyPoops, srgeman, Lady of the weastern wind, Auralucario, Guitar-Blonde-Is-A-Baka, Sailor Nibaru, and Cinders for reviewing chapter six. I hope you guys like this chapter just as much.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I have three Mews on Pokemon Diamond, though. Enjoy!!

Chapter 7: Rin's Story

Rachel lumbered behind the bush soon after me and Gregor landed smoothly next to her. "Is everyone all right?" I asked, my voice strained.

"We're fine." Rachel answered for both of them.

"Thanks Rin," I told her, "We would never have gotten out of there without your help."

"You're very welcome." She said, her breathing almost back to normal. "Where would you like to go now?" She persisted.

"I think we should go back to Littleroot, we need to talk to the professor. But first, I think I speak for all of us when I say we want to hear the story of how you got to where you are now." I requested of her.

"Well then," she started, "you may want to take a seat, it's a long story." We all sat down expectant of her words. "When I was barely a month old, I was taken out of my den by these huge men coated in black. I didn't know what to do."

"I wriggled around in his grasp but he wouldn't let me go. Finally, he put me into a cage much like the one I found you three in. I waited there for about three days before one of the men came in and picked me up by the scruff of the neck to take me into another room. This one was much brighter and filled with ecstatic young people. They were all howling and jumping like a bunch of Poochyena, I could hardly stand it with my sensitive ears."

"I was set up on a stage with several other small Pokemon about my age: a Torchic, a Poochyena, and a Zigzagoon. We all huddled in one of the corners of the small pin. A man dressed in a suit picked us up one by one and gave us to one of the young people. I was given to a dark haired boy who seemed very kind. Towards the end of the meeting the person in the suit said we could not start training for three more months so that we would be ready."

"My new master took me to his room and allowed me to run around. He has changed a lot since then," she added with a sigh, then got back to the story, "He would let me run around outside with the other Pokemon, too. That's how I met Blacktail the Houndour and Fireburst the Torchic. We had a lot of fun in those days. After the three months were up, we were all put into a strenuous training program and didn't get to see each other often."

"I finally finished the training and got to go on missions with my master. We were together for five years before he started being mean and rude to me. I didn't know why either. I lived with that for about ten more years and then saw this as a perfect way to escape. He wasn't worth it anymore." She finished the story, and a grateful smile formed on her face.

"Wow." We said in unison. "I understand now." I said. "You will always be welcome with us, no matter what happens. Remember that." I promised soothingly.

"Thank you." She said, relief flashing on her face. "Now then, weren't we going to Littleroot?" She asked, back in good spirits.

We all perked up too. "Yeah! Let's go!" Gregor cried as he shot ahead. He circled quickly back. "Umm…which way is Littleroot?" He asked, embarrassed.

"I suppose you'll have to follow me." Rin said. She got up and raced ahead of all of us.

"Wait up!" I called after her.

"You're going to have to catch up." She taunted over her shoulder. I sprinted as fast as my Growlithe paws could carry me, which was pretty fast. I soon overtook her.

"Ha! You're going to have to do better than that!" I said joyfully. We continued like this the entire way to Littleroot. Rachel and Gregor kept their distance, too embarrassed to be anywhere close to us.

Soon enough, we reached Littleroot, having encountered no problems along the way. "Well that's a first." I said, skidding to a stop. "Do you mind helping us around town, I don't trust myself, after being captured and all." I grinned sheepishly.

"No, not at all." Rin said, walking ahead. My friends caught up and we followed her through town. We eventually arrived at a sparkling, white building. "This is the lab." She stated.

"Let's go in." I dared. I walked in first. All three of them flanked my sides. We walked up to one of the white coated assistants. He pointed us towards a doorway to the left. We began walking in that direction. A man in a gold lab coat greeted us. This was obviously the professor.

"Hello, my name is Professor Maple." He said to us. "What can I do for you?"

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. Sorry if it was a little short. Next one will be longer. Keep those Pokemon pouring in. I have yet to decide whose will be Vaporeon's prophecy. Even if yours isn't the prophetical Pokemon, it will still be used in the story.

So tell me how you think of it. Opinions are greatly appreciated and I'll respond to any questions you give me. Chapter 8 will be here soon,

Pika!!


	8. River

A/N: Hello, everyone

A/N: Hello, everyone. This chapter is guaranteed to be exciting. Even if you don't think so. I made sure it was longer than the last one, too. Totaling at 1,162 words. Thank you to srgeman, Sailor Nibaru, Lady of the Weastern Wind, FooFooCudlyPoops, and Lightning-Alchemist-Rini for reviewing chapter 7.

Diclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, enjoy!

Chapter 8: River

"We'd like the starter kit please." I replied. In this region wild Pokemon had the same aspirations as trainers, but didn't catch Pokemon, but instead trained themselves.

"Right away. I'll have to go get them. Hang on for a moment. Go to the waiting room while you're waiting for me." He said, pointing towards a glass door. A Pokemon flap was at the bottom. We all crawled through.

"Okay guys," I said, lightening the mood, "while we're stuck here, we might as well try and complete the game as if it were still in our Gameboys. We're going to go around both regions and collect all sixteen badges. Then we will become champion Pokemon." I said triumphantly. Rin looked at us warily.

"What are you talking about? Gameboys? Game? This isn't a game, it's the real world! I was born and raised here!" She said, confused.

"Well we weren't," I answered. Gregor and Rachel gave me assured looks. Confirming that I should tell her what happened. "Do you promise not to think we're crazy?" I asked her seriously.

"Yes." She asked, even more confused at my tone of voice. "What's the problem?" Concern showed in her eyes.

"This is what happened…" I began. I told of everything ever since the three of us bought the game. She nodded at certain intervals. Obviously amazed by what had happened. I soon finished and she stared wide-eyed at us. It looked like she was pondering at a decision. Suddenly, she turned and ran.

"Freaks!" She called over her shoulder. She was almost at the door. I was the first to give chase.

"Wait, Rin! I can explain!" She didn't give me a second glance. Her pace quickened. I tried to catch up, but I was steadily falling behind. We had long since ran out of the laboratory and were now in a large meadow filled with flowers.

She paused at the edge of meadow. She stood still for a moment, and then turned around to face me. "Get away from me, you…you monster! Leave me alone!" Tears flew down her cheeks, a streaming river of anger. Gregor and Rachel had fallen behind a long while ago, so I couldn't lean on them now.

"I'm not a monster!" I testified. She turned and bounded off once again. I followed, still getting behind. Soon enough, we reached a fast flowing river. She had stopped at the side and was now staring into the fast moving water. I trotted up to her and sat by her side.

"You don't know what it's like." She said. "I've always hated humans, ever since I was taken from my den." She wiped her eyes, but the tears continued flowing out. "Now, you tell me you were one. I don't think I can trust you." She turned to me, her eyes brimming red from the tears.

"But you can trust me." I told her kindly. She backed up, but didn't turn around this time. She was soon directly across from me. My back faced the river.

"No, I can't!" She screeched, and threw herself across the small space between us. She tackled me before I was ready and I crashed to the ground. She stood above me and released a Flamethrower straight into my face.

"Ahh!" I screamed. I clawed at her exposed belly, trying to get her off me. She responded with a strong bite to my back leg. I kicked and thrashed; finally, I got her off me. I pounced on her and dug my claws into her fur. I began to bite and scratch her back and shoulders wildly.

She jumped backwards and landed on her back, forcing me to let go. I fell into a heap on the ground and tried to get to my feet. It took me a bit too long and she got the chance to use Quick Attack on my side. I flew sideways and landed closer to the river than was safe.

Rin stared at me. A wry smile took up her face. She cornered me in the tiny bank next to the river. I tried to use an Ember, but she didn't even flinch. I put my paw in the water, considering the possibility of swimming across. The water stung my paw, I pulled it out of the water and cradled it, trying to get the massing pain to stop. It felt like a dozen Raichu attacking with Thunder at one time! I could hardly bare it.

As I tried to make my paw feel better, she moved closer and closer, her eyes mocking me. "Have a nice ride, _human_." She said bitterly. I couldn't move, all the injuries, plus my burning paw made sure of that.

She let out a wild war cry and rammed into me. Everything began happening in slow motion. My feet left the ground and I saw Rin's lips curl into a smile before I flipped and saw the water underneath me.

The blue wave licked up, trying to grab me. I was quickly falling into the stinging water. I closed my eyes and curled myself into a small ball. I heard a splash and felt my body sting with the intensity of thirty Zapdos or more shocking me. Putting my paw in the water wasn't nearly as dreadful as this. I screamed in agony, but my mouth filled with water.

I flopped around in the water's current, each new wave that hit me felt like another string of electricity. I couldn't hear anything besides the water. Its thunderous roar snapping in my ears. I screamed again, this time I caught the air. My scream pierced the air loudly. My head went under the water again.

I tried to swim, but every time I moved, my body hurt from the rage of the water. My head popped out of the water again. I let out another shriek. My eyesight began to tinge with blackness on the edges. The world was slowly growing dark. I heard a pair of wings beat behind me. My body cringed once again from the water. "Help!" I called. Then my eyes became sightless.

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. As always, I'm open for suggestions and anything else you can think of. I will gladly answer any questions too. Remember to submit those Pokemon. They will be used, mark my words. Those of you wondering when I'm going to stop writing this story, guess what, I'm not. As long as I keep getting reviews and people keep sending in Pokemon or humans, I'll keep writing. That's a promise.

Thanks for reading,

Pika!!


	9. Marius

Chapter 9: Marius

A/N: Hello Everyone!! Thank you to all my loyal readers! Thanks to Natasha Mikkle, srgeman, Lady of the weastern wind, abcdinoman, Auralucario, hi there flamingo, and Ligtning-Alchemist-Rini for reviewing. Thank you, srgeman, for Marius and his Pokemon, Cosette and Epi. I hope I portayed them well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon! How many times do I have to say it? Enjoy!!

Chapter 9: Marius

"Is she awake?" I heard a male voice ask. I was suddenly hit by another fresh wave of pain. I groaned in agony. "Hush, hush, little Growlithe, you'll be fine soon." The soothing voice calmed me and the torture left for a moment.

I struggled to open my eyes and noticed I was in a clearing. An Absol, the pokemon of pure protection, stood in front of me, her eyes searching the forest. She was obviously on the alert so that nothing could hurt me. She paced every once, full circle around the clearing and then back again to stand guard in front of me. I tried to say thanks but my voice strained and all that came out was a soundless rasp.

I tried to move, but noticed I was completely immobile. The pain was quickly flowing away, replaced by numbness so wonderful; I wanted to scream with joy. "Here, eat this." A hand appeared in front of me, a _human_ hand. It held a small pink berry. I opened my mouth and begged him to put it in. He placed it on my tongue and I ate it. My body instantly loosened and I could move again.

I moved my head to get a first look at my caregiver. He wore a black coat and fedora. It was pulled up on the right side of his faces for reasons I had yet to know. His black hair perfected the figure and his face showed with concern. On his shoulder sat a Stararaptor. She exchanged worried glances with her trainer.

"Thank you," I finally managed to say. Gladness shrouded his face. The Absol turned around as if startled. The Stararaptor looked amazed too.

"You're very welcome." He told me with a smile. He showed me a Poketranslator and continued. "Epi, here found you in the rapids." He said pointing towards the bird on his shoulder. Epi lowered her head sheepishly, embarrassed at having been mentioned by her trainer. "You were about to go over the falls. From what I know, fire Pokemon don't do well in water so Epi swooped down and saved your life."

"Thank you, Epi. You're very kind to have done that." I said to the Stararaptor.

Epi picked up where her trainer broke off. "I carried you back to Marius, he's my trainer, and he nursed you back to health. He's always willing to help a Pokemon, he believes they are peaceful creatures and thinks the world would be better if more people were like Pokemon." It was Marius's turn to look sheepish, now.

She continued, "You were out for quite awhile. Its been almost two days since I found you." I looked at her in awe. No wonder fire types didn't like water. It stings and it's deadly! I was about to speak when I was interrupted by a low hiss. It was coming from the Absol.

"What is it Cosette? Is someone coming?" Marius asked his Absol. His concern was replaced with worry.

"Keep quiet! Yes, I hear something coming towards us." She said in a hushed voice. She took a battle stance and bared her teeth, ready to attack anything that came too close. I could now hear the noise. It was a low rustle coming from the bushes ahead.

I saw a flash of blue, then nothing. Suddenly, a Squirtle walked out of the bushes. "Celli!" She yelled. She ran up to me. "Oh, dear, what happened to you? You're scratched everywhere it's possible to be scratched!" A Pidgey flew into the clearing with us.

"Hey, Celli. We've been looking all over for you. Ever since we lost you soon after you ran out the door." Gregor said compassionately. He had obviously been very worried about me. They both had.

I told them a quick version at what happened and they gave me even more concerned faces. I couldn't move very well yet, even after the Parlyzcure berry, so I couldn't prove to them I was fine. I then gave them introductions to the others sitting around me.

"This is Marius, he took care of me when his Stararaptor found me in the rapids." I said, pointing towards the dark, mysterious boy. "This is Epi, his Stararaptor." Epi cooed a hello.

"My actual name is Epionne, though. It means 'selfless sacrifice'. I think I lived up to it when I saved your friend, Celli." She told Gregor and Rachel.

"And this is Cosette, Marius's Absol." I continued.

"My name means 'innocent'. We Absol are given bad reputations, but we truly are innocent of anything that may seem to be caused by us. In fact, we are known for our loyal protection." Cosette added in confidently.

"These are my friends," I said, now introducing them to my friends, "Gregor the Pidgey and Rachel the Squirtle." I didn't trust telling them about how we were humans. Not after the experience with Rin, anyway.

"It's very nice to meet you." Marius said for all three of them. I regained movement during our talk and was now moving about happily, ready to go.

"I think it's time for us to go." I told my friends. They nodded and I turned to say goodbye. Marius spoke before me.

"Do you mind if we go with you? We can offer protection and care if you let us join you." He asked. I nodded. I already trusted him. Anyone who can nurse me back to health is trustable. My friends seemed to agree because there were know objections, just simple nods.

"Okay then, let's go! On to Oldale Town." I headed our group and tread off towards the North, trusting my instincts.

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. I won't be able to update again until Sunday, that's why I put it up so early. Keep sending in the Pokemon! I greatly appreciate opinions on the story and anything else you deem important. I'll answer any questions happily.

Don't forget my guarantee- all Pokemon sent in will eventually be used in the story. Remember to review!!

Pika!!


	10. Pidgeotto

Chapter 10

A/N: Hello everyone. Yep, I put this chapter up early. I couldn't wait any longer. Thanks to everyone for reading, the hits are now in the thousands! Thank you to srgeman, Lady of the weastern wind, Natasha Mikkle, Sailor Nibaru(Mew), DJ GF, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, and Walks In The Shadows for reviewing chapter nine. Thank you also to all those who read it but didn't review. Now on to the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!!

Chapter 10: Pidgeotto

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Rachel asked as she ran up to walk by my side.

"I…er…I think it's that way." I said, pointing a paw to the left. I walked that way to prove it to her, and myself. My gait must have been unsure because Marius spoke up behind me.

"I've been around this area a lot. Why don't you let me guide you to Oldale Town?" He asked, obviously aware that I had no idea where I was going.

"Thanks. You can lead us." I said, hanging back so he could pass me. He stepped in front of me and turned around so he was facing me.

"Alright, this way. Let's go." He said kindly. He past me, again, and started going the way we had just came. I held the end of the line, not wishing to be embarrassed further. As we walked, he told us some important information about gyms, even though we never got the package from Professor Maple. If we knew all the rules, then we wouldn't even need to get the package.

"You have to train in order to get badges," he said, "the best time to train is when you are traveling to another gym. You guys should try it out if you ever want to get past the first gym. It'll be awhile, though." We all nodded and shook our heads thoughtfully.

"I assume you won't help us battle once we start going to gyms though, right?" I asked him.

"No. I completed my trainer journey awhile ago. Now I just strive for peace among everyone." Marius answered. Cosette stopped in mid-walk.

"I hear something coming." She said. "It sounds like a Zigzagooon. It's in a hurry. Why don't one of you three battle it for experience? Don't hurt it very bad though." She looked at the three of us, waiting for us to respond.

"I'll go." Gregor said, enthusiastic about going into a battle for experience. We all stepped back so Gregor could have some room for his battle.

"Good luck." The Absol said, giving a slight nod.

The Zigzagoon burst into the clearing. It was breathing rapidly and sounded like it had been running for a long time. It paused when it saw the new comers, but only briefly. It seemed to have given little thought as to whether or not to fight the Pidgey in front of it. It quickly ran in for a Tackle.

Gregor flew up, narrowly missing the Zigzagoon's Tackle. He pumped his wings at the brown Pokemon and it flew backwards into a tree. Gregor dived in and pecked it before it could get up.

The Zigzagoon retaliated and used Quick Attack, knocking the breath out of Gregor as he fell to the ground. He tried to get back into the air, but his right wing was attacked by a Bite attack. Suddenly, a white flash appeared. Gregor was gone. The Zigzagoon was surprised when its teeth clamped down on something much larger than what it had been biting.

Gregor smoothly threw his wing out with the Zigzagoon still on it. He did so with such force that it had to let go of his wing and was sent flying off into the forest beyond.

"Agh," was heard in the distance, but none of us noticed. We were all looking at the form in front of us. It stood about three-and-a-half feet tall and was more amazing than any eagle I had seen back in our world.

"You evolved." I said, awed. Gregor no longer had the rustic look of a Pidgey. He had light tan feathers now and pink head feathers. The black slahes over his eyes made him look like a predator. He looked like the perfect fighting machine. I was suddenly filled with ambitions to evolve, myself. I fought them back though, realizing that if I evolved now, I would be pathetically weak and be unable to use any good attacks.

Gregor tried to take in his transformation. It was hard to believe we were once humans. With this further occurrence we might as well give up on even trying to get back to the human world. I decided that this was impossible because doing that would be the same as giving up. I couldn't do that.

"Great job, Gregor. You look great as a Pidgeotto." Cosette said, very pleased of him. I had almost forgot she was there.

"Yes, I can't believe you evolved so fast. You'll be a Pidgeot in no time." Marius added. Gregor grinned.

The daylight was quickly slipping away, we still needed to get to Oldale Town. "This way is fastest." Marius said, he dashed off ahead of us and we followed behind. Gregor easily soared ahead of us, testing his new wings. He did loops and turns in the air, enjoying himself thouroughly. He stopped in mid-loop. His eyes wide with fear.

"T-Team Blasters." He muttered. A lightning bolt shot from somewhere ahead of us and hit Gregor in the chest. He spiraled down into the surrounding bush, gaining speed as he fell. Soon he was a featureless brown blur as he fell to the ground. Marius ran towards him.

"Gregor!" He yelled too the falling bird, "No! I've got you." He ran up to where Gregor was falling. He had already fallen past the trees' canopy and was falling ever faster towards the ground. His entire body was limp as he fell. The lighning bolt must have been very strong, and the fact that he was only a fresh Pidgeotto didn't make it any better.

He was mere feet from the ground now and Marius was still a ways away. 'Thud,' the earsplitting sound hurt my ears as the noise of Gregor's crash filled them. He lay limp on the ground, his wings bent at odd angles. A crimson fluid flowed around him. His body gave a few shudders as he breathed. They were very violent. He must have punctured his lungs.

Marius finally got to his landing place and sat beside him. "Gregor." He mumbled. "You'll be fine. We just have to get you to a Pokemon Center." Cosette was too startled by the accident to notice a rustle in the nearby bushes. Even Epi's predator ears couldn't hear it.

"Not tonight you aren't." A rough voice said. "You leave the Pidgeotto and nothing will happen to any of you, except the Pidgeotto of course."

"Rai!" Accompanied the man's claim.

A/N: So what do you guys think of it? Who do you think the owner of the rough voice was? What Pokemon do you think his partner was? Will Gregor be alright? I love to hear opinions and I'll answer any questions. Remember to send in your pokemon like this- name, pokemon, moves, description, personality, and origin(optional). If you don't send in an origin, that's fine, I'll just make up one myself.

Remember to review!!

Pika!!


	11. Team Blasters

Chapter 11

A/N: Hello everyone. Here's the next addition. Thank you to everyone who reads this story. Thank you to srgeman, Auralucario, Lady of DakFire, and Natasha Mikkle for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!!

Chapter 11: Team Blasters

The man's skin looked pale against the glowing moon. His partner, a Raichu, crouched dangerously beside him. He wore a black jacket with the Team Blasters emblem embedded on it. My entire body tensed at the sight.

"I'm not going to let you have Gregor!" Marius snarled. His Pokemon flanked him, making him look much more intimidating. I ran beside him, too, snarling and biting the air. Rachel did the same.

"Well, I'm sorry, but the Pidgeotto is coming with us, whether you want us to take him or not. You have no chance of defeating us." The man laughed darkly. I glanced at Gregor, he was awake now, but he still fought for breath. '_Hold on,_' I tried to coax him to get better with my mind.

"I think you're quite mistaken. Epionne, let's go! We have to save Gregor!" Marius turned to his Stararaptor.

"Star!" She replied and zoomed out to take on the Raichu.

"Okay, Lighningtail, let's show them what you're made of." Lightningtail jumped out in front of the man and began the battle without an order. Its tail glowed white and it jumped at least five feet in the air to where Epi was hovering.

She ducked down and dove, but wasn't fast enough. The Iron Tail attack hit her on the back on the way down. She zoomed towards the ground, but leveled herself out before making contact. The Raichu landed gracefully and gave a mocking smile to Epi.

Suddenly, it stood completely still, its head facing the night sky. The moon was covered with dark clouds. Epi realized what Lighningtail was trying to do, and dove down towards it. Her wings leveled and they glowed white. Her speed increased quickly and she knocked her left wing straight into the Raichu's stomach. It keeled over trying to make its stomach feel better.

Epi was just a moment too late with her attack, though. The thunderclouds rumbled loudly. Lighningtail looked up at Epi. Even though she had slashed his stomach, he would still get revenge.

"Raiii…" The Raichu started its controlling chant, taking control of the thunderstorm overhead. "Chu!" He finished. An impressive lightning bolt fired down at Epi. She shrieked in terror as the bolt flashed through her. She landed on the ground with a small thud, unmoving. The Raichu stared at its victim with happiness in its eyes.

Marius stared at him with eyes colder than ice. "You will pay for what you did to Epi. I will never let you forget this day." He glared at the grunt. This is when I interfered. I ran between them.

"I'll face the Raichu." I said confidently. That's two of his friends today that it had almost killed. I looked over at Gregor, barely hanging to life. This fired up my anger that much more. I didn't wait for Marius to say something. I ran towards the Raichu, anger filling my body, making me run faster. I was soon a blur to any human that saw mean, a orange and black streak.

"Growl!" I screeched, calling on my Pokemon instincts. I ran into his side and he went flying. He hit the ground and scrambled back up to face me. It began the unmistakable chant again.

"Raiiii….chu!" It screamed. Lightning fell on me, but I ran around it. I was running faster than lightning, and still ever faster. I ran up to the Raichu with another Quick Attack, but fired this one up with Ember. I blew fire in front of me and ran through it. It caught on my fur and I was soon a blazing, orange streak.

I ran into the Raichu once again. I was a total surprise to him because I was almost totally invisible by now. Lightningtail screamed as I hit him full force, he caught fire and fell to the ground in a heap. He continued rolling around and screaming until his owner call ed him back.

"Lightningtail, return!" He called. The Raichu was covered by a red light and transferred into the small ball, grateful to have left the pain behind. "That Growlithe is crazy! You need to put it to sleep!" He yelled at me. That got me a fresh wave of anger and I bit his pantleg.

"Get off of me you scoundrel!" He yelled, kicking me off. "I don't care how strong your pokemon are! They need to send someone stronger than me to take care of them! Team Blasters will control the region with those Pokemon!" He yelled, turning and running away. I saw aflash of his cell phone as he ran, but nothing more. I turned around to face my friends.

"You're pretty strong." Marius complemented, then remembered Epi. He ran over to her. She was fried from the Thunder attack. Every feather was burnt off her body.

"Remember me." She mumbled, and closed her eyes for the last time. My limbs turned to jelly and I instantly felt like crying and mourning, but there was no time for that, we still had to save Gregor. I left Marius by Epi's side. He was crying, sad that his partner was lost, but glad that she had been such a noble Pokemon. I would remember her forever.

Gregor had regulated his breathing by the time I got there. "Quick, get me a few Potions and then we have to get to Oldale Town as fast as we can." He mumbled when he caught sight of me. He was doing better, but he was still in critical condition.

I ran over to Marius and tore him away from his dead companion, something more serious needed his help.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. I don't know if it was too sad, but I was definitely crying as I wrote it. Now, on other topics, you guys can still send in Pokemon or humans for that matter, just remember to use the correct method (look in the last chapter for this).

Well how was it? I love to hear opinions and I'll answer any questions. Chapter 12 is on the way!!

Pika!!


	12. Secrets

A/N: Hello everyone

A/N: Hello everyone. Thanks to all of you who have been reading my story. It just got its 50th review yesterday from Arcachan. (Yes, this is very important to me). Thank you to srgeman, Auralucario, Walks In The Shadows, Lady of DarkFire, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Sailor Nibaru (Mew), and .x.Runner-Of-The-Stars.x. (Arcachan) for reviewing the last chapter. It means a lot to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!!

Chapter 12: MariusTeam Blasters!

"Yes. I understand." Marius said as he turned to face me. Salty tears flooded from his eyes, he looked like a small boy, looking for comfort. "I've got some potions in my bag if you want to give them to him." He said. He started to stand up, but I pushed him back down.

"No, you need to stay with Epi, give her your last words, we're leaving soon. Tell her that I'll miss her too." He nodded shakily and sat back down, happy to have an extra minute with his Pokemon. Cosette sat closely next to him, her head lowered in grief.

I ran over to his black backpack and dug through it. It was filled with all sorts of Pokemedicine. Towards the back I found a Hyper Potion and got it out. A black piece of fabric was buried beneath it. I sniffed it curiously, then pulled it out.

It was a jacket. On the right side of it, a small emblem with a Rocket ship on it was emblazed into the jacket. Underneath were the words, 'TEAM BLASTERS MARIUS RANK: CAPTAIN."

I stumbled backwards, amazed that the young man who had saved my life was a captain of Team Blasters. I decided to keep it to myself for now. I wanted to find out what he was up to before I told anyone.

I stuffed the jacket back into the bag and looked over at Marius. He was turned the opposite way and didn't notice my discovery. I sighed, thankful. While putting the jacket into the backpack I saw a flash of steel. I looked to the right, where it had come from, and saw six polished, steel pokeballs lining the corner of his bag. The things were completely inescapable, probably a higher catch rate than a Master ball.

I was once again dazed and turned quickly to grab the Hyper potion between my teeth. I ran over to Gregor who hadn't moved an inch. I sprayed the potion on him and his wounds instantly started to close up.

"Thank you." He muttered softly, and then continued in a stronger voice, "Please take me to the Pokemon Center in Ol'dale now, they'll take care of me." I nodded sharply and ran over to Marius. I was a little bit more careful this time, now that I knew the truth. Rachel saw me and walked up behind me.

"What are you acting so careful for?" She asked as if she was offended. "He's our friend. Now stop sulking!" I nodded at her stern words and hurried towards him, worried that I might talk about Marius' secret identity if I stayed for too long.

He turned towards me as I approached, there was no suspicion whatsoever in his eyes. "Is it time to go?" He asked kindly. There was a mound of dirt in front of him. Apparently where Cosette and him had buried Epi. It was unmarked, except for some ivy twined into a loose heart.

"Yes. We need to get Gregor to the Pokemon Center as soon as possible." I said trying to distract him.

"Okay, but first we need to make something for him to lie on, on the way there. Twine some ivy and sticks together to make a mat." He said, then got up to find some sticks and ivy. I told Rachel what we needed to do.

Soon, a mat about Gregor's size lay fully formed on the ground. Marius went over and picked Gregor up gently. He laid him down on the mat and picked it up carefully, with two hands. "Let's go." He said simply, determined to get Gregor to the Center. Rachel and I followed behind, too worried to make any sort of conversation.

After about three hours of walking, the town's lights loomed ahead. Marius broke out into a run, Cosette bounding on beside him. Rachel and I raced to catch up. We stepped out onto the community square. The Pokemon Center was right in front of us. Marius ran straight for the door, he was bursting with sweat.

The nurse met him at the door. "Nurse! Nurse!" Marius cried. "Please help this Pidgeotto, he was hit by a strong Thunder attack by a Raichu." The nurse nodded and put Gregor on the nearest stretcher, rushing him into emergency attention. Marius sighed and sat in one of the waiting chairs. Rachel and I sat on a bench beside it.

We were all very tired at this point and tried to go to sleep. Rachel was asleep before me, running on Squirtle legs must have been hard work. I soon went to sleep, too.

A breeze of fresh air hit my skin. I was human once again, even if it was in the dream world. The waves lolled on endlessly, just as they had in my last dream. I suddenly remembered the Vaporeon that was my imagination and focused solely on that. I really wanted to talk with her.

"Vaporeon?" I called. The magnificent, blue Pokemon stepped out of the waves. She trotted up to me and looked up.

"I have some news for you." She said happily, turning in circles around her tail. "Remember that Pokemon I mentioned in your last dream? You're going to meet her really, really soon!" She seemed overly excited by this and did a full flip backwards. "She'll guide you and show you everything. She even knows about your situation!"

"That's great! I can't wait to meet her! Now for my news," I told her of Gregor's accident and Epi's death. She was obviously dulled by the news. "Can you tell me if Gregor will be all right?" I begged.

"That, I cannot say. I'm sorry, you'll have to find out tomorrow." She said grimly. I hoped she was faking it though. I didn't want anything bad to happen. "Now you must wake up, to find out if your friend is all right." A multi-color ray shot out of her mouth and hit me. The dream was washed away and I was back in the waiting room.

A/N: I hope everyone liked this chapter. Will Gregor be okay? Who's the Pokemon guide going to be? I'll listen to anyone who has an opinion and I'll answer any questions. Remember to send in your OCs. I accept all of them.

Chapter 13's coming soon. See you,

Pika!!


	13. Gregor's news

Chapter 13

A/N: Hello everyone. Here's the next chapter! Thank you to all who read the story, it means a lot to me. Thank you to srgeman, Auralucario, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Sailor Nibaru, Arcachan, and Lady of DarkFire for reviewing. Thank you, Lady of DarkFire, for giving me Seth. Now on with the story,

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!!

Chapter 13: Gregor's news

A doctor approached Marius, who was already awake. He immediately perked up and a look of worry crossed his face. "Is Gregor okay?" He asked.

The doctor's face was grim as he shook his head. "He'll be fine, but he'll never be able to fly again, or at least not until he evolves into a Pidgeot." He added hopefully. "He'll be leaving soon, just fill out these papers." He handed a clipboard to Marius who quickly completed the papers and gave them back with a wad of pokedollars.

The doctor went back to the emergency room and a Blissy staggered out, walking Gregor towards us. He looked much better now, only the bandages over his wings hinted at the attack that impaired him. He smiled as he hopped toward us and quickly reunited.

"Ready to go?" He asked. We looked up at the Blissy who nodded.

"Once the bandages come off, he'll be good as new, except for the flight thing of course." She said approvingly.

"Flight thing? What flight thing?" Gregor asked, flashing glances at all of us.

"Didn't you tell him?" I asked the Blissy nurse.

"Well…er…come back soon!" She said and scurried back to the ER sheepishly. Gregor seemed lost in confusion.

I broke the ice. "You're not going to be able to fly again until you evolve." I told him plainly. He stared at me, taking it in. He shook his head sadly.

"I-I can't believe this." He said. His eyes stared at nothing now. He seemed paralyzed on the spot. "I won't be able to fly, until I'm a Pidgeot. This is so hard for me!" He said, on the verge of tears. "If we were still humans none of this would ever had happened!" The tears flowed down his face.

"It'll be okay." Rachel said, walking up to him. She put her arm around his waist and patted his feathers. "You'll make it through this, I know. I don't like all these things happening to us either! I want to go back home!" Rachel was almost crying now, too. I ran over to help the two of them.

"Come on, let's focus on something else." I said. "We're almost to the first gym and…" I whispered so Marius wouldn't hear. I still couldn't be too sure about him. "I had another dream, We're going to meet our guide today!"

The two of them perked up instantly. It was only then that I noticed the peculiar stares coming from Marius and Cosette. "Sorry to burst in like this," Marius said, "but did you say that you were humans at one time?" Marius raised his eyebrow, confusion his only emotion.

"Er…we were just talking about things to change the glum mood." I said. It was almost the truth. "If we _were _humans we're sure things would be better." I explained. He seemed to take it, but it was obvious he was still thinking about it. "Come on! The first gym awaits!" I said, running for the door.

My companions all shared a glance, then took off after me. I had to slow down to let them catch up. Still, I had to slow down even more to make sure Gregor could stay in the group. Hopping didn't get him very far. Before we left town, we stopped at the Mart. Marius bought all kinds of medicines and made us each eat a Carbos for our speed.

The medicine was horrible tasting, but I was soon filled with energy and running around the room. It made me really enthusiastic. My friends were all bouncing off the walls, too. Even Gregor. "Now we'll make better time! Off to the route!" I cried and dashed out the doors.

We were soon out of town and in the wilderness. There weren't very many trainers out here, but I was still cautious. A few Pokemon crossed our path. It was a group of Lotad. "Help! Help!" They cried once they saw us. "Seth fell in the lake! He can't swim! Save him!" They pointed into the deep woods.

"Who's Seth?" I asked carefully, but my question fell on deaf ears.

"Come on!" The Lotad yelped. They ran into the woods. I didn't know Lotad could run so fast. It was hard to dodge all the bracken as we tried to keep up with them. Soon, a huge lake sprawled out in front us. Tree branches stretched over the lake, creating a canopy. Towards the middle, a small, green form was flailing about in the water.

"Help!" He screamed. "I can't swim!" I jumped into the water on impulse. I didn't even think of the pain it would bring to me. I had to save him. The second I touched the water, pain ran through me. I ignored it and tried to compose myself. I swam out into the lake towards the green form.

I could now tell it was a Treecko. He flailed about and went under a few time before I got to him. The pain continued to hit me like a speeding train. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming.

"Come back, Celli! You're going to get yourself killed!" I heard Rachel's irritated voice behind me. I heard a splash and knew she was coming to save both me and the drowning Treecko. The Treecko suddenly went under, but didn't come back up. I completely forgot about Rachel and dove under the water to save him.

I opened my eyes underwater. Seth's green form was in front of me, now. I reached out to grab him when the pain I was holding off finally broke through. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Instead, water flowed in. I made the mistake of breathing in. I couldn't breathe! The water shielded me from air. The Treecko continued to fall towards the bottom of the lake. I followed him, despite my own state.

Rachel came up right then and swam down to save the Treecko first. She barely came into view again before I blacked out from lack of air. I dangled motionless, running out of air, and time.

A/N: How was the chapter? I figured it needed more action, so that's where this last part came in. Is Seth the guide? Or is it someone else who has yet to make an appearance? What do you think? I can't wait for your answers and I'm open to all questions. Chapter 14 will hold the truth. It'll be here soon! Oh, almost forgot, I'm still accepting Pokemon and humans! I do allow multiple characters from the same person, btw. See you guys,

Pika!!


	14. Rain

Chapter 14

A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading my story! Thank you to srgeman, Lady of DarkFire, Auralucario, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Walks In The Shadows, DJ GF, (), Arcachan, and Drrockz for reviewing. A special thank you to Lightning-Alchemist-Rini for the character of Rain. I hope you like how I portrayed her.

Discalimer: I don't own Pokemon, so, Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Rain

I woke on the bank. It was nighttime. The moon hung above me, taunting me. I carefully tried to stand up, but lost my balance. I fell to a heap on the sandy ground. I got up once more, less groggily now and achieved my attempt. It was only then that I noticed I was alone. I looked around frantically, but couldn't see my friends. Suddenly, I noticed that the lake was gone. A field of grass was laid out before me.

Around the edges of the grass was…nothing. The forest was gone, empty air filled the space. I dared to approach the edge. I looked over the side, nothing was there. There wasn't anything holding this little patch of grass up. It was floating. I jumped and nearly fell into unconsciousness again, but stopped myself, I wanted to know more.

"Rachel!" I called my friend's name rapidly. "Gregor!" I called his name desperately. There was no reply to either. I continued rasping out their names. Soon, my voice was so hoarse, I could barely even whisper. "Help!" I finally managed before my voice was completely inaudible. I circled the perimeter of my silvery field. The moonlight from above shined on it. I walked up to one of the edges of the perfect circle and looked over again.

I finally considered the thought I didn't want to cross my mind. '_Did something happen to me?_' I asked myself, I didn't want to think anything more specific, though. That couldn't be though, I would be human again, right? As I reached my head farther over the side of my floating grass island, I noticed a downward wind. I had slowly been going p the entire time. I let loose a few tears that tumbled into the emptiness.

I stood up to go back to the middle of my island to think some more. As I stood, I lost my balance in my front feet and fell downwards. Thankfully, I caught myself with my back legs and held on to the grass island as best as I could. I wriggled around to try and get back up, but it only made me looser. My left leg fell off the island. My entire weight was on my right leg now, and it was quickly coming to the edge.

The wind buffeted me as I tried one final swing to get back up. I swung to the right and caught the island with my teeth. I bit hard, but my bite was answered with loose dirt. I bit through it and fell, faster than any other fall I'd ever taken. The island of grass disappeared above me as I careened downward. My throat hurt too much to scream, so I concentrated on turning so my back faced upward.

I rolled over in midair, nothing was below me. As I fell, it got darker and darker, soon, I was shrouded with darkness. A super bright object appeared below me. It was becoming larger by the second. The speed at which I was falling burned my fur. I ducked my head into my body and used my last ounce of energy to scream into myself.

"Ahhh!" I screamed. I jumped up, only then noticing I was standing on something very soft. The bright object was above me now, only then did I notice it was a ceiling light. Hands fell on me to restrain me.

"Calm down, Celli!" One of the voices scolded. The hands locked me into place on the small hospital bed. I suddenly recognized it, it was Marius'. "You were hurt pretty bad, we didn't think you'd make it, I'm so glad you're okay." He said and let me up. He petted me on my back as he explained. Gregor, Rachel, and Seth climbed on the bed. Rachel hugged me tightly.

"You woke up! I was so worried!" She cried happily. Seth, the Treecko who had been drowning, walked up beside her.

"So you're Celli, right? I'm Seth." He said as he held out his hand. I shook it. Suddenly, Rachel's expression changed, she looked guilty.

"I'm so sorry, Celli, we could have avoided all of this. But, I found someone else in the water with Seth here. She was a Piplup, and she was barely still alive." Seth continued the story from there.

I saw here fall off of one of the branches and jumped in after her, but I couldn't hold my breath long enough to save her. I came back to surface thrashing for air, unable to swim after the exertion of energy it took to dive down." He explained carefully. He blushed at the part where he said he couldn't hold his breath. Rachel broke in.

"So I saved the two of them first, then came back for you. You were already lying on the bottom and I couldn't find you at first. When I did, I was almost too late. We ran to Petalburg as fast as we could and put all three of you into the ICU at the Pokemon Center. That's where we are now." She finished. I was astounded by their story, it was amazing.

"Thank you guys so much! Don't worry, as long as I'm alive, I'm happy. So who's this Piplup you were telling me about?" I asked happily.

"She's in the bed next to yours. She woke up a couple hours ago, but didn't say much. We know her name's Rain now, though." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "She also said the words 'human' and 'periwinkle.' I think she might be the guide. We'll just have to see when she wakes up again, though. I hope it's soon." Her news perked me up, it made me a lot happier. It would be easier from here, I hoped.

Gregor finally said something. "Now that you know everything, try and go to sleep, that was a lot of info to take in."

"Okay." I agreed and they left the hospital room to go to the waiting room. It was just Rain and me now. "Wake up soon," I muttered to Rain before drifting into a nice, peaceful, sleep.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! What'd you think of Celli's near-death experience? Is Rain the guide? Sorry everyone, but those of you expecting Seth are wrong. It had to be a girl. I'm still accepting OC's. The next chapter'll be up soon! Thank you for reading,

Pika!!


	15. The Guide

A/N: Hello everyone! Your kindness is in my thoughts, reviewers. Thank you to Lady of DarkFire, srgeman, Drrockz, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, WITS, DJ GF, Sailor Nibaru, and darkangelwp05 for reviewing chapter 14. I hope you like this chapter as well.

Chapter 15: Guide

Someone was shaking me from my dreamless sleep. Groaning, I opened my eyes. Rachel stood over me, muttering something. "What?" I asked, my voice sounded really whiney. Rachel shook her head pathetically.

"I said, Rain woke up about a half hour ago. You've just been sleeping the whole time." She explained impatiently. "Now, come on." She dragged me up from the bed and turned to face Rain's. Rain was sitting on the pillow talking with Gregor. "I got her up!" She called over to them. They looked over. They all seemed overjoyed.

"Come on, Celli! You have to hear this!" Gregor called, a smile covering his face. I hopped over to the other bed, ready for the apparent good news.

"So you're Celli, right? I'm Rain." The Piplup told me. She seemed really happy.

"Yep, that's me." I said. "So what happened? Were you a human?" I asked. I didn't have to worry about Marius overhearing, he wasn't even in the room.

"Yes I was. Here, I'll start from the beginning. I had just bought the new Pokemon Periwinkle game from a game store with my friend, Chris. We rushed home as fast as our feet could carry us. Of course, when we arrived at my house, the first thing we did was open the games. We went outside on the back porch to start it.

"We went through all the question and eventually got to the choose a Pokemon part. I, obviously choose Piplup. Chris chose the Pikachu. That's when all the weirdness happened. Next thing I knew both Chris and I were on the ground. A tremor had shaken our porch, forcing us to lie on the ground.

"Suddenly, another tremor ran through and burst a hole in the porch. I remember screaming and shouting and that Chris was trying to save me. He told me to hold onto his arm, which I did. It didn't help much. The dark crevice was mere inches from my feet. I hugged the ground to keep from falling in. The earth let loose another shake and crevice jerked wider. Both Chris and I feel in. I was screaming louder than I thought I was able to when I hit a wall of rock with my head. I was instantly unconscious." It was obviously hard for her to tell the story; her lower beak was quivering from the memory. She paused for a moment before continuing.

"While I was unconscious, I heard a voice. It was filled with so much authority I couldn't help but listen. It said, " 'Rain, you have been given a great task. You will guide three Pokemon, like yourself, on the path to becoming human again. You will use the item I have given you as the key, and in the process of saving this threesome, you will also save yourself.'"

"I was suddenly awake and in an odd place. I was in the middle of Rustboro City on a stack of cardboard boxes. Chris was lying next to me. Of course, I didn't recognize him at first, and he didn't recognize me since we were both Pokemon. Being a Pikachu, the first thing he did was change his name to Volt. I told him about what happened when I was unconscious and we began to search for the others like us. I only had this to show as proof." She pulled out a feather. It brownish and tan, with some white on it. I looked at it in confusion.

"So that's pretty much what happened and here I am!" She finished. She looked relieved after revealing everything that happened. "So you guys are the threesome, right? But what about Seth? What can we do about him?"

"He's not going anywhere, for your information!" Rachel yelled at her. I pattedher to try and make her calm down.

"So where's Volt at?" I asked, concerned.

"That…that's something I don't like to talk about." She said, frowning. I nodded, we'd find out sooner or later. "So when can we get out of here?" She said, quickly changing the subject.

"That would be right now." Marius suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Come on." He said and waved us on. We all hopped off the bed and shuffled towards the door. After Marius checked us out at the main entrance, we were back outside. The daylight showed joyously. The light hit everything within sight. I sat in the middle of the field out front. The others joined me. Marius walked out in front of us.

"Okay, guys, we're heading towards the first gym in Rustboro. If we walk quickly, we should reach it by nightfall. So now let's go!" Marius proclaimed. We got up from the ground and began our journey to the first gym.

A/N: So how did you guys like this chapter? I hope it was good! I have started a side story where they go back home that takes place right after this chapter.. The every 15 chapters summary will be in the next chapter! Along with an actual chapter. I'll be in a mad rush to update all my stuff in the next few weeks because I'm, well, you'll find out soon enough. Just enjoy the updates for now.

One final thing, I have something for you guys to vote on. Do you guys want to see a side story about Rain, up to this point? It will be a full-length story if I get enough people to agree. I need them quick if you want it. Like I said, I only have a few weeks.

Pika!!


	16. The Aggron Trainer

A/N: I know I said I was going on to the sequels, but I decided, how much sense does that make? So instead of doing PP: Onward with the Journey, I'll continue it in the original story. I have deleted what I've made with PP: OWTJ and am putting them up here. The following is a basic summary of what's happened so far to date, then the actual chapter. PP:B2B will stay up, but as a side story instead of a sequel. I doubt this makes much sense, but that's what I'm doing. Anyways, here's the chapter! A very special thank you to Drrockz, for the character of Flame. This chapter is dedicated to you. Enjoy, everyone!!

Chapter 16: The Aggron Trainer

We walked along behind Marius, a human who always wore a black fedora. He was a part of our little group and often helped us. He even saved me from drowning once, which is how we met. His Absol, Cosette, walked along beside him. She was constantly on the alert for anything. Marius had been very kind to us, and I loved that, if it wasn't for one thing. That night, when I found out he was a captain of Team Blasters. I have resented him ever since, but I never shared my suspicions, it was too risky. Besides, I wanted to find out what he was doing.

Gregor and Rachel flanked me. We had gotten into this mess at the same time. We weren't always Pokemon, playing Pokemon Periwinkle assured us that. We were once humans, and now we all shared the same thought, we had to get home as soon as possible. Our events here had not been very enjoyable, Gregor couldn't even fly! He was a Pidgeotto that couldn't fly- a pretty bad state for him. Who knew a Raichu could be so lethal? Rachel, on the other hand, was busy trying to save me when I got into trouble, which was quite often. She has also saved me from drowning, being a Squirtle, it was very easy for her.

Rain was ahead of our group, tagging along behind Marius. She had also come from the human world and was our guide here now. She was going to lead us back to our humanity. She joined our group when Rachel saved her. Even though she was a Piplup, oddly enough, she couldn't swim. She had actually come with a partner, Volt. His real name was Chris, but he changed it once he found out he was a Pikachu.

Seth seemed to be trying to match Rachel's every footstep. I'm pretty sure he liked her, but I never found out. Seth was a Treecko who was also saved by Rachel while trying to save Rain. I still don't know that much about him, he's always so mysterious.

I should really know by now that water is bad for a fire Pokemon. But it seemed that every time someone was in trouble, I just had to do whatever I could to save them. I'd almost died the last time it happened. Since I was a Growlithe, it made even less sense. Growlithes were known to have common sense and a whole stack of other things, but it seems those surpassed me. I didn't care, though, it was my personality, I had to deal with it.

We were soon in the forest right before Rustboro. Grass and Bug type Pokemon ran around us, gathering food for lunch and looking for accessories for their nests. A few Shroomish were playing in a patch of soft grass. The trees grew above us and shaded the ground. It seemed to be twilight here on the forest floor.

"Go, Ironhead! Flame! You, too." A husky voice called out. Our group stopped in unison and looked over into the bushes. Ironhead…wait! I've heard that name before! I didn't have time to say anything because the huge Aggron I'd met on my first day in this world was charging right at us. Trailing behind it was a Combusken that was shooting flames all over the place. I dove out of the way, the others following suit. It bowled past us. We weren't lucky enough to get past the fire. Of course, it didn't affect me, but everyone else was screaming there heads off. Suddenly, someone stepped out of the brush through a whole the Aggron had smashed through. The Combusken did a back flip in midair and landed, poised for attack, beside its trainer.

"Good job, Flame. Get back here Ironhead!" He said. There was an edge to his voice, but I couldn't tell what it was. He suddenly froze.

It was the same boy from before. His brown hair was a bit shorter, but it was definitely him. He even had on the Lugia shirt he had been wearing that day that seemed so long ago. His eyes widened as if scared. His Aggron ran back to him. He seemed to be staring at something. I followed his line of sight. He was staring right at Marius, and he was staring at him with the same expression.

"M-Marius. You're alive!?" The boy's face suddenly turned white. He seemed like he was about to faint.

"Hey. You know him?" Gregor called from my side. His question fell on deaf ears. The two continued to stare at each other, the boy seemed to be getting closer and closer to the ground.

"Yes, Timothy. That I am." Marius said simply. The Pokemon in our group stared at the two in complete confusion. That was all he could take. Timothy fell flat on his face, passed out. Ironhead was immediately at his side.

"What was that about?" Seth asked passionately. We all looked to Marius expectantly.

A/N: So how do you guys like it? How do you think the two of them know each other? Anyways, tell me what you think. I'll accept OCs for this one. See ya,

Pika!!


	17. The Moment of Truth pt 1

A/N: Hello everyone. **ATTENTION:** I thought I might as well put this one up, too. After this, the stuff you guys _haven't _read yet will start again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, Enjoy!

Chapter 17: The Moment of Truth Pt. 1

"He's a friend of mine." He said simply. "Come on. He'll be fine." Marius tried to get us to leave, Cosette did the same. Something seemed odd by the way he was looking at us, like he was hiding something. His eyes darted from side to side warily.

Rachel stepped forward. "No! We have to help him!" She said and ran over to the fainted boy. She pulled out his wrist to check for a heart beat. "Okay, I hear it. It's weak, but it's there, and it's slowly getting back to normal."

"Ugh." The boy mumbled. Rachel jumped back in fear. Ironhead and Flame backed up a little. Timothy looked up towards Marius. "That's funny, you look just like Marius did before he died." He said slowly and pushed himself off the ground with his arms.

"Died!?" I shouted in surprise. "What do you mean died?" Timothy looked over to me and shook his head.

"Don't you know? Every grunt knows that the great Captain Marius died while trying to capture the elusive Raikou. Right after being given his assignment to hunt down a few supposedly once-human Pokemon." He explained. "We never found the body, and here he is." He laughed to himself. The entire group let out an amazed gasp.

As a one, we turned to face Marius. "You're a Captain of Team Blasters!?" Gregor screamed. "And your assignment was to hunt down us!" Gregor's eyes narrowed menacingly. "Traitor." He said the word so scathingly that Marius flinched. Gregor took a slow step forward.

Timothy sat up, gradually gaining control over his body. He looked at us Pokemon. "Wait a sec! You guys aren't grunts!" He stood up and watched Marius. Marius threw him an angry glare and then returned to his freaked expression. He backed away towards a nearby tree. "Oh, er, sorry, Marius!" Timothy yelled. "Flame! Go help out Marius."

"Right away." The Combusken jumped towards him.

"Wait. The humans turned Pokemon must be captured. You mustn't kill them. Besides, they don't stand a chance against Jerome." Marius explained to Timothy. He called off his Combusken.

"You guys are all probably wondering what this is about, right? Your memories will be washed so there's no reason not to tell you." We all stopped advancing and glared at him, expectant. There was no way we would let our guards down.

"Okay. Well, as Timothy explained, I am a Captain of Team Blasters. My boss, an Espeon/Alakazam combiomorph, was sensing odd ruptures in space and time. He said that humans had entered our world as Pokemon and that they would destroy every plan we'd ever had. He told me to find these Pokemon with this." He pulled out a small, red and black watch with what looked like a GPS on the display. Four points were highlited in red towards the center.

"See the glowing red dots? That's you four: Celli, Rachel, Gregor, and Rain. There was a fifth, but that one disappeared off the map awhile back. I still don't know what happened to that one." Rain suddenly froze up. She lowered her head and fell to the ground, crying.

"Volt…" she murmured quietly. Apparently, this disappeared red dot was Volt, the person Rain had entered with so long ago.

"Heheh, so his name was Volt…what happened to him, Rain?" He tried to sound kind and gentle, but none of us were fooled. That is, besides Rain.

"He meant everything in the world to me. He was trying to protect me from a swarm of Dustox. I didn't even help, I was too scared. I watched him die, I watched him suffer before death, I even heard his last word. 'Rain.' He loved me to his death, and I still love him." This was obviously hard for her to talk about, her entire body was shuddering and her tears flowed like a river.

"That's-that's really what happened, Rain?" I said, my voice barely audible. Rain raised her head up so only I could see her sobs of sadness. "Oh, I'm so sorry." I said, pulling closer to her. She nustled her head into my side.

"I'm sorry for you Rain, but I must finish talking about what happened to me. I left base with everything I would need for any kidnapping trip. Some anestisia to knock them out, a gag, you know, stuff so no one would know. It turns out, not three days after leaving base, I was attacked by a Raikou." He reached up for his fedora and pulled it off. It revealed a huge pink scar running down the left side of his face.

We stared at it, wide-eyed, for a moment. "It killed my best Pokemon, Blazer, a Charizard, with ease. Then it went on for me. I, of course, ran away from it, but it chased me. It pounced onto my back after less than a few seconds of running. The first thing it did was bite down on my neck." He pulled down the collar of his trench coat so we could see. Bright red scars were scattered around on various places on his neck. The fang marks were the most vivid, though.

"I was almost suffocated when it did that. It must have bit through my windpipe. I don't exactly know what happened next, but I woke up in a hut several hours later feeling great. Nothing was left but the scars. An old woman was sitting across from me in the hut, she just smiled and waved to me. Several bottles of potion were lined up beside and around her. She motioned to a green one and made a drinking action with her hands. I drank the liquid and was suddenly filled with energy. It was amazing."

"The lady then showed me out of her hut and into the forest. She waved goodbye and left. I just shrugged it off and kept going. She had saved all my clothes and even my backpack. There was no sign of Blazer though, or the Raikou. Right after the incident, the GPS device started to show your beeping dot, Celli, and I sent Epi to save you from the water. Then the rest of you eventually came to me. Now, it is time I returned to Team Blaster's base. With what I was originally assigned to capture." He reached into his bag and pulled out one of the silver pokeballs.

"Jerome, time to get to work!" He yelled as he threw the ball. I nudged Rain to move back and out of the way. She gladly obeyed. A purple aura came out of the ball to form a huge Tyranitar. It glared evilly at Rachel, Gregor, and me. Rachel pushed Seth back a little bit.

"Get back, Seth, this is our fight." She mumbled as she readied a water gun. I felt the heat burning inside me, begging to get out. Gregor raised his injured wings menacingly.

"Okay, Jerome. They're all yours. Just try not to kill them, please." The Tyranitar grunted and opened its mouth wide. I saw a yellow ball of light formulating in the back of his mouth. He faced me and lowered his head to aim. The Hyper Beam was ready to fire.

A similar orb of orange fire appeared in my mouth, growing larger by the second. The Tyranitar's attack shot from its mouth at amazing speed. I shot my attack out simotaneously. The yellow and orange beams headed toward each other and met in the middle. BOOM! The sound shook us off our feet, but the force was worse. It knocked dust into the air and shot me backwards into a tree.

The impact ran through my body, but I wouldn't allow myself to be knocked out. Carefully, I stood back up, and fell down. I reached out with my front feet again and stood up fully. I stood triumphantly in the swirling dust, waiting for it to clear.

A/N: Whoa! A lot of events in one chapter! Was anyone expecting something like this? So the truth is revealed. But, hey, were not done revealing truth yet! I know I mentioned combiomorphs in this chapter, if you would like to know more about them, then PM me. Please Review!

Actual new stuff coming soon.

Pika!!


	18. The Moment of Truth pt 2

A/N: Hello

A/N: Hello. Now for something new! I thought I was being mean to loyal Periwinkle readers by putting up those last two chapters that you guys have already read, so I made this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 18: The Moment of Truth Pt. 2

The dust slowly settled to the ground. Once it was clear, the Tyranitar still towered above me. My Overheat attack had apparently not been enough. Rachel was firing Water Guns at it and Gregor was giving a Double-Edge. I ran up to join the fight.

I shot a stream of fire from my mouth to distract it. My plan worked, it turned its sights to me. Once I got its attention, both my partners jumped out at it. A huge fountain of water pelted its back that caused it to flinch. It roared in pain, but didn't fall. Suddenly, a ray of light surrounded the monster.

I looked for the source, it was Seth. A huge Solarbeam rushed from his mouth to the Tyranitar. It was blindingly bright and I couldn't see anything for a minute. Just as quickly as it had come, the light dispersed. The huge bulk of the Tyranitar lay motionlessly on the ground. Seth had beaten it!

"Jerome!" Marius yelled and pulled out Jerome's pokeball. He recalled it and the Pokemon disappeared in a haze of purple. "You'll pay for that." He grumbled evilly and looked to his side. "Okay, Cosette, you're up!" The Absol got to her feet and darted out in front of us.

"I don't plan on giving any mercy to you guys just because we traveled together for awhile." She snickered. She walked calmly back and forth in a line. I started to step forward, but caught myself, she had to be planning something…but what? Suddenly, she stopped and her eyes glowed red.

Cosette disappeared in a flash of black. '_A faint attack!_' I realized quickly. Both Rachel and Gregor were looking for where she had gone. Suddenly, Gregor was hit from behind. He fell to the ground, having already been weakened by the Tyranitar's rampage. Now that Gregor was knocked out, it was up to me and Rachel. Seth walked up and took Gregor's place. He seemed ready for anything.

In another aura of black, Cosette appeared before us once again. She grinned at us as her head blade paled to white. She threw her head back and the Razor Wind shot through us. It knocked all three of us back a few steps, but no one fainted. Now it was our turn.

A blue ball of glowing energy formed in Rachel's mouth, a blindingly white one formed in Seth's. They were both getting ready to unleash their strongest attacks. I followed suit and an orange ball of flame appeared in my mouth.

The energy balls grew larger quickly. Soon, all three of unleashed our charged attacks at the same time. White, blue, and orange met in unison and formed a superbeam, larger than any of the attacks we had fired. It shot toward Cosette at such an amazing speed she couldn't get out of the way.

She screamed loudly as the move slammed into her. Her pained scream echoed from the surrounding forest, Pokemon busy with their daily routines stopped to listen. The entire forest got quiet as Cosette's scream sounded across. We stopped our attacks simultaneously and the superbeam formed from them disappeared. The scream touched all of our hearts, it was just too hard. It was like we were trying to kill a trusted friend.

The remaining light from the attack dispersed to reveal the scorched body of Cosette. Her snowy white fur coat was gone, in its place was dark charred skin. Her mouth was held wide in a permanent scream. Seth, having no idea of what was going on, shrugged his shoulders and walked back to where Rain was sitting. The Piplup held her mouth wide and her eyes as well.

"What just happened?" She mumbled. Marius leaned against a tree staring at his trusted Pokemon and beloved friend. He dipped his face into his hands and began to cry. Timothy acted just as Rain. Disbelief was obvious on his face. He turned around and sat. His Pokemon tried to comfort him.

Rachel and I reflected on what we had done. I realized everything in one sudden moment. This was our friend. It didn't matter if she was on Team Blasters, nothing would change the fact that she was our friend. I now had blood on my hands, the blood of a friend. Cosette…she had guarded me several times over, helped to heal me, gave us all guidance and we, no _I_, killed her.

This was a friendship I could never have again. I hardly even knew her, she never talked hardly. But she was always there, helping us. I wish I had gotten to know her better, but I never asked her about anything, and now I would never get the chance. I slid down to the ground and placed my head on my paws.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled to the dead Absol. "I really am." I lowered my head deeper into my paws and cried for a good five minutes. I finally forced myself to get up and walked over to Marius. He looked down to me.

"What do you want? I believe you've done enough today." He growled angrily. His eyes were red from the tears.

"I'm so sorry, Marius," I said quietly, "I never meant for that to happen." I lowered my head to show him I meant it. "And I realized something." I began.

"Really? What?" He prompted me.

"I don't care if you're a Captain of Team Blasters. I don't care that you were a traitor this entire time," he flinched on that one, "all I care about is that you're my friend. It doesn't matter what you choose, nothing will change. I'll always love you as a friend. Please know, I may get mad at you sometimes, but that's only human nature, or Pokemon nature, getting the best of me. I'll try to control it the best I can." I leaned in closer and rested against his leg.

Marius slid down the side of the tree and looked at me with a huge smile on his face. "Thank you." He said simply and scratched my back. "I love you too, as a friend."

"Thank me? What did I do? I just made your life miserable." He looked at me like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, for all I knew, it was.

"You've showed me something that no one else has ever showed for real- forgiveness. I'll always treasure you for that. Thank you." He smiled brightly and leaned in closer to me.

"You're welcome. I never knew that. How could you live?" I asked him.

"I don't know. But I do know I'll always be happy with you around." I blushed slightly and touched my nose to his cheek. "I also know that I'm never going back to Team Blasters again. They're the ones who have made my life miserable. Not you guys."

"Thanks, Marius. I guess you're on our side now." I said, wagging my fluffy tail.

"Hmm, I guess I am." He said, his tone more joyous than before. Suddenly, I felt something odd inside me. My body was totally engulfed in white light. Marius jumped back in fear. "What!?" He yelled. The others stared too.

A/N: What just happened? Do you think Marius is done with his evil ways for good? Will there be a MariusXCelli? What about Cosette's death? I'd loved to hear answers to these in your reviews! I will, of course, still be accepting OCs.

Pika!


	19. Purpose

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Read on and find out what happened to Celli! Don't have much else to say.

Chapter 19: Purpose

I felt myself being lifted into the air while still being engulfed by the light. My body was moved into a vertical position. Suddenly, my vision went dark and a pink Pokemon appeared in front of me.

"Hello," Mew said, "you have accomplished your purpose of becoming a Pokemon. Now, you have a choice. You will become human again either way. Now here's the choice, ready?" He asked me.

"Yes." I mumbled to him.

"Okay. You can go back to your home on Earth or you can stay here in the Pokemon world. Your choice, now decide." He said seriously. I nodded and began to consider my options.

If I went home, would any time had passed? Would anyone know me? Would they think I was…dead? But if I stayed here, I would never see my family again. That was okay, I mean I had all my friends here. But still. What should I do?

"I've made my choice." I began. Mew looked to me and raised an eyebrow. "I want to stay in the Pokemon world." I stated clearly and calmly. No regrets flooded me as I said it, so I thought it was the right choice.

"As you wish." Mew said. The dark was gone in a blip and I was sitting on a patch of grass. Everyone was staring at me in wonder. I looked at them in confusion, then remembered that Mew said I would be human.

I lifted my hands from the ground. They were pale, human hands. I had on the T-shirt I had worn on that fateful day we got here who knows how many days ago. My jeans were there too, along with my worn out Nikes. My blonde hair fell against my back once more. I smiled at the gift I had been given. It was like I was never a Growlithe! I looked upwards and thought to myself, _'Thanks, Mew.'_ This had to be the best thing that had ever happened to me.

"Celli," Marius said happily, "you're a human again!" He ran over to help me stand up. He grabbed my hand and I pushed upwards with my legs. I stood on two legs once again. It was very different from walking on four legs. It would take some getting used to.

"Wow." Rachel and Gregor said in unison. They were once again amazed by an event. Timothy suddenly turned around and faced the group for the first time since he saw Cosette die.

"Who's the lady?" He said, looking at me.

"Remember the Growlithe from earlier? That was me." I said, my voice just as I remembered it. The gruffness of a Growlithe's voice was gone. I knew I was speaking English once more.

"Whoa! So it was true! You guys really were humans!" Timothy cried and ran over to us. I smiled at him.

"Yep!" Suddenly, I remembered something, "but, Timothy, you never told us why you're here in the first place." I asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys!" He said happily and then began. "Well, I hated how Team Blasters treated us while we were in training, so I ran away." He said simply.

"That's it? You just didn't like it?" Marius questioned.

"Well, yeah. I hate Team Blasters. Do you mind if I come with you?"

"Hmmm, I guess so. Just don't try anything, okay?"

"Of course! Thanks!" Timothy looked over to the edge of the forest. "You know, we should really be heading for Rustboro soon. It's getting dark."

"Yeah. We should." I said, "come on everyone. Time to go." Our large group trekked through the remainder of the forest and came out on the yellow bricks of Rustboro city.

"Here we go guys. Time for our first gym battle." I prompted my friends.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Rain said and ran out in front of us.

"Wait up!" I cried, tripping over my now human legs. I giggled as I fell to the ground. Times like these would never get old.

A/N: Celli's a human now! What do you the purpose she fulfilled was? How will they do in their gym battle with Roxanne? Yes, I know this chapter was rather short, but that's because there wasn't much action and I don't like non-action scenes. The next chapter'll have plenty of it, though. Please Review!

Pika!


	20. Gym Battle!

A/N: Hello peoples, this one has lots of action in it, like I promised

A/N: Hello peoples, this one has lots of action in it, like I promised. Plus, a twist towards the end of it. Read and enjoy!

Chapter 20: Gym Battle

We soon arrived at Roxanne's gym. It seemed to be made out of rock alone. The word 'GYM' was chiseled into the rock above us. There was a statue of a Geodude on either side of the entrance.

"Hey, you guys," Timothy called before we walked in, "I'm going to go find a hotel for us to spend the night at." He said.

"Okay, make sure it's a good one," I said, nodding at him. He recalled his Pokemon and walked towards the large buildings this place was famous for. "So how are we going to do this, guys?" I asked the Pokemon around my feet.

"Can I battle first, please?" The Piplup asked. Rain looked up to me, her eyews begging me to allow her to.

"Sure, I guess, you are a water type after all." I said, shrugging.

"Yay!" She cried and ran for the doors. The rest of us walked after her. I fell into step beside Marius. He looked to me questioningly.

"Are you sure that's such a great idea?" He asked me, an eyebrow lifted in confusion.

"Of course I do. Why?" I asked him.

"I mean, she's new at this and she said she froze up when her boyfriend was killed. How do we know she won't do that again?" He had obviously thought this through. For the first time, it crossed my mind that she could possibly get hurt.

"We don't know what'll happen. Let's just let fate run its course," I figured. If worse came to worse, then I'd save her. I wasn't expecting the worse, though.

"Okay. If you say so." I nodded warmly and led him in. A lady with bright red hair sat behind a rock desk. She smiled when she saw us coming.

"Hello, I'm Roxanne," she said excitedly, "would you like to have a battle with me?" She asked.

"Yes we would." I said, she smirked and got up from her seat.

"Okay, follow me!" She said as she walked through a corridor behind her desk. The tunnel was dimly lighted, making it hard to see. It was barely head height and my head often rammed into an overhead rock. Marius, being taller than me had to lower his head down to avoid hitting the ceiling.

Suddenly, the tunnel disappeared to reveal a huge cavern. It was bright as day in here! Why couldn't they do that to the tunnel? Roxanne walked to the right of us.

"You guys go to that platform to the left. You are the Blue team, while I am the Red team." She explained, I began to walk towards a raised blue platform to the left. Rain flanked me closely. She seemed to be in awe at the sight of the gym. This wasn't something people get to see everyday. Marius suddenly stopped behind us.

"I'm going to go sit down on a bench." He explained and went to the Challenger's seating section. He sat on one of the benches in the front and then waved to me. I waved back and continued walking to the platform. I hopped on with Rachel, Gregor, and Seth. Rain stayed on the floor, ready for battle.

"This will be a three-on-three battle." The judge called from the sidelines. He held two green flags in his hands, they were both raised high above his head. "The first to knock out all of their opponent's Pokemon wins. The Challenger will make the first move." With that, he lowered his arms and shouted, "Begin!"

"Rain! Let's go!" Rain ran out into the battlefield. She looked ready for anything. She patiently waited for Roxanne to release her Pokemon.

"Geodude, come on out!" She yelled and a rock-like Pokemon appeared in a flash of red in the arena. Rain got ready for her attack. She opened her mouth just as a rushing stream of water shot out. The Geodude easily got out of the way and zoomed in for a Tackle. Rain kept up her Water Gun until the Geodude was close enough and then used Peck through the water.

The Geodude was knocked backwards by the force of the water and flying attacks hitting at the same time. Rain landed smoothly as her tail began to obtain an iron-like sheen. She ran for Geodude and then jumped into the air. She spun around and the Iron Tail attack worked. Geodude was driven into the ground.

"Geo…" It muttered as it pulled its way out of the ground. It stared menacingly at the little Piplup in front of it. "Dude." It finished and fell to the ground in a heap.

"Geodude!" Roxanne yelled as she recalled her Pokemon. "This one won't be so easy. Sandslash, go!" The brown and yellow Pokemon landed smoothly on the ground.

"Rain, are you ready?" I asked. She nodded, not taking her eyes off of the Sandslash. The Sandslah got to attack first this time. It jumped into the air and dove for the ground. One of its claws dug into the ground. It stayed suspended by one claw for a moment before the ground started to shake.

Rain watched the creaking ground warily. It was an Earthquake attack. Suddenly, she became totally unfocused and stared off into the distance, '_Earthquake,_' she thought, '_That's how I got here in the first place. An earthquake_,' The crack in the ground raced toward her.

Rain had sat down, lost in thought. She stared blankly at nothing. She seemed mesmerized by something. "Rain! Move!" I called to her, but she didn't budge. "Get out of the way of that Earthquake!" I yelled. She was going to get hit ant second! What could I do? Oh, what could I do?

The ground suddenly opened up underneath her. She finally jumped up, but it was too late. "Rain!" I yelled and jumped from the platform. I felt myself be covered by a white light again.

"Challenger forfeits by…" The judge yelled, but stopped midsentence. "Where's the challenger?" He asked no one. I was too busy to understand what he was talking about. I jumped into the crack after Rain.

"Rain! I'll save you!" I yelled, my voice husky. Suddenly, I was free falling throughthe crack in the Earth, but I could care less about what was happening to me. I had to find Rain!

"Where are you?" I screamed. I heard a mumbled response somewhere below me. "Here I come!" I yelled, angling my body so I could fall faster. Only then did I noticed what I had become. I was in a body that, while it wasn't as light as being a Growlithe, it was thrice as powerful. But why in the world was I a Pokemon again?

'_Questions later,'_ I reminded myself, _'save Rain, now.' _

A/N: So how was it? What did she turn into? Why do you think she became a Pokemon again? Do you think Rain will be okay? How was the battle with Geodude? I can't wait for your reviews, everyone. See you,

Pika!


	21. Death

A/N: All I can say here is, expect the unexpected

A/N: All I can say here is, expect the unexpected. This chapter is NOT for the faint of heart. You have been warned.

Chapter 21: Death

Suddenly, a blue form came into view below me. I dove for it quickly. My massive weight caused me to reach it in no time at all. I grabbed onto the scruff her neck gently with my powerful jaws. She had long since gone unconscious and made no struggle. The bad thing, though, was that she was like a dead weight. Now, to find a way to get back up.

I forced myself to focus, every second I was in here, I got farther away from the exit. I was in the middle of a deep crevice, freefalling, with no way to get out. I looked up nervously. There was barely a speck of light coming down. Suddenly, my confidence fell. What if we couldn't get out? I whined slightly, but didn't have time for anything else because my breath was knocked out of me.

We had hit the bottom of the crevice, me first. I heard a sickening CRACK as I began to lose consciousness. I gasped for breath, but nothing would come. A pool of warmth formed around me. Blood. The unconscious Rain had landed softly on my back, unharmed. But me? I was terribly hurt.

I tried moving my forelegs, but nothing happened. My back legs seemed frozen as well. Not even my mighty Arcanine tail, now the color of scarlet, would move. I felt as if I were hit by a truck, a dozen times straight. But I had saved Rain, so it was all for the best of sorts.

Suddenly, I wheezed and began coughing harshly. Blood oozed out of my open mouth. I felt myself fading away, but I hung onto consciousness. I must have been quite the sight, now that I think of it, a newly re-transformed Arcanine lying in the bottom of a crevice severely broken and surrounded by a pool of blood. I would be lucky if a lived for another minute, really!

I heard a groaning sound, Rain was coming to. She yawned loudly and picked herself up off my back. She slid down off of me and landed in the pool of blood. Reality hit her in a huge wave. I was dying. She ran around to in front of me, she was trembling. Her eyes were wide.

"Celli!" She screamed. I smiled slightly at her. Which was quite hard to do, seeing that everything about me hurt. My face was the only thing I could move. I gasped for breath again, I needed to talk to her. "What happened?" She asked.

"I…saved…you." I said. I was hyperventilating now. It felt like I couldn't breathe, which was absolutely true. Her eyes watered up as she reached down to touch me. She patted my wet, dog-like nose.

"I'm so sorry, Celli." She said.

"It's okay." I muttered. My eyelids were getting heavy. I forced them to stay open a little while longer. She kneeled in front of me as she petted my muzzle. Suddenly, she looked up. I strained my eyes to see what she was looking at. I could see a yellowish blur in the distance above me. Two huge wings spread on either side of it. Could it be Gregor? Rain jumped up and down beside me, it must have been someone we knew.

The huge bird landed. Now that it was closer, I could almost discern it to be a Pidgeot. It looked over my was and gaped. "Celli…" it mumbled, "I wasn't fast enough." It said mostly to itself.

"Who…?" I said choking on the word. I wheezed again as my vision blurred.

"It's Gregor. Roxanne gave me some Rare Candies and I evolved. I was suppose to come down here and get you two, but it seems it's too late." He said, lowering his head. Suddenly his head shot back up. "Wait, Celli, if you became human again, would you be healed?" He asked, holding on to this last strand of hope.

My eyes became thoughtful, but I couldn't think straight. I had been without oxygen for too long. I floated away from consciousness slowly. The last thing I heard was Gregor shouting, "NO!"

I found myself in the middle of darkness. Nothing could be seen in any direction. I looked at myself. I was human again! But I felt transparent, not really there. It was like something was missing. I looked around nervously, but no one was there. I was quickly getting claustrophobic.

Suddenly, a pink creature appeared in a flash of light in the darkness. Mew. He looked at me sadly. "You have died, Celli." He said simply, shaking his head. I pulled a hand over my mouth.

"What…?" I said, shocked. I looked at my hands, they were, indeed, transparent. "So am I in heaven now?" I asked him. He shook his head again.

"No." He said. "That's because I wanted to give you a chance first." He explained.

"What?" I asked, desperate.

"I can send you back to the Pokemon world if you'd like me to, but you will not be as your old self. You will be different in every way and form. You'll have no memory of what happened today at all. The only way you would know is if someone tells you, which is quite possible, really." He said, explaining everything.

"Okay…" I said, nodding my head.

"Are you sure?" He asked me.

"Yeah." Mew nodded and then seemed to concentrate on something. I was surrounded by an envelope of light which quickly receded to the sun so very far away. I raised a paw up to block it from sight.

"Wake up." I heard a voice tell me. I looked over to see the familiar face of a friend I'd known practically forever.

A/N: Yep, so Celli died. Don't worry, the OCs you gave me before will still be in it. It won't take Celli that long to find them. I don't know what Pokemon to make her yet, so I'm going to have a vote. In a review, say what type of Pokemon she should be. It can be any of the 17 different types. I hope you enjoyed this! Oh, and if you thought this was going to happen, say so, I'm interested in how that's possible. Please Review!

Pika!


	22. Berry Hunting

A/N: Thank you to all of you that reviewed the last chapter and other ones as well

A/N: Thank you to all of you that reviewed the last chapter and other ones as well! It means a lot to me! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 22: Berry Hunting

"Wake up, Cindy." My friend repeated. She yawned as she flexed her wings.

"Good morning, Sara." I mumbled to her as I pushed myself up from the ground. Sara was a combiomorph. She had Swellow wings and tail, but a large pink 'Y' came out of her head. Her entire body was green on the back and yellow in the front. Everything else was human. As far as I knew, she was the only friend I'd ever had. Being a Poochyena, there was a lot of Pokemon stronger than me, so I needed protection. Sara was that protection. She could morph into either Swellow or Caterpie, but she preferred to stay in her Swellow form.

A light surrounded her as she changed from her human form to her Swellow form. I yawned and did a huge stretch. "So what are we doing today?" I asked her. My life was pretty boring. Nothing exciting ever really happened.

"I think we should go find some food. Our berry supply is running really low." My eyes suddenly lit up. Berry hunting was always fun. There were tons of berries in our forest, but I always just looked for one kind. The Chesto Berry. They were my favorite above all else.

"Yay!" I cried as I turned toward the brush. "I'll be back once I get some Chesto berries!" I called back to my Swellow friend.

"Okay. Don't get hurt." I scampered into the bushes as she said that. I ran through the forest at high speed, searching for the elusive berry. The best spot was the Oak tree off on the other side of the woods, but, to get there, I had to run straight across a trainer's route. The one right in front of Rustboro City to be exact. It would be risky, but worth it. I had to get my berry!

I kept running straight and soon arrived at the trainer's route. No sooner than when I stepped out of the bushes, a trainer attacked me. I froze up as I examined him. He had brown hair, but I couldn't see his eyes because he was looking at the ground, downcast. He wore an old blue shirt with a picture of a Lugia on it. His eyes suddenly came up to look at me. The blue eyes suddenly seemed overjoyed.

"Yes! A Poochyena!" He cried as he unclipped one of his pokeballs. "Let's go, Flame! I've been looking for one of these!" He threw the pokeball through the air and a red light came out of it. A Combusken formed in the red light. It kneeled on one knee and held its arms out in a battle stance. I suddenly realized that I was alone in this. Sara was back home. There was no one to help me. Taking a breath, I readied for my own attacks, I wasn't going down without a fight.

"Go." The trainer ordered. Flame instantly jumped over to me, lashing out with his foot. I jumped up to dodge and dived down to bite the leg that was still aimed to where I was only moment ago. The Combusken flinched slightly and pulled his leg back in.

Suddenly a stream of Ember came barreling towards me. I used Agility and dashed around most of them, but, since the Embers seemed to be coming from everywhere, one got a solid hit on my back that caused me to fall over, ending my Agility. Flame was strong! It didn't help much that I was barely lv. 5 either, but that small Ember hurt a lot!

I got back up, shaking the dirt from my back. A little Growl attack escaped from my lips that sounded more like a puppy whining. Which, probably was what it was. Flame looked at me and smirked. It was obvious that he was trying to hide a laugh. He ran for me with his claws out. I tried to jump to the side, but was slashed across the face with the Scratch attack.

I recoiled in pain and fell into a heap on the ground. The trainer took that time to do the most obvious thing in the world. Catch me. The ball collided with my back and opened up, ready to suck me in. The red light surrounded me and I became one with it. It sucked me into the small ball. I could feel it shaking, but there wasn't much turbulence inside. It was more or less like rocking in a rocking chair…with a kid who happened to be considering that rocking chair as a race car. It wasn't too bad, but definitely not the greatest experience I'd ever had.

Soon, the shaking stopped. The top of the dome turned translucent and light poured in. The space was small, but cozy. It was like a hotel room. There was even a bed in here! I looked up, the trees seemed to be moving, but I knew it was just the kid running. His Combusken was running along side him. The trees suddenly disappeared altogether; we were out of the forest.

This was the first time I'd ever left the forest boundaries. Sara never let me wander too far away from our comfy little home. But now I was captured. This was going to take some getting used to.

The boy stopped in front of a building with a huge sign with a pokeball on it. A Pokemon Center. Though I'd never actually seen one, I'd heard about them from traveling Pokemon. My trainer turned and recalled his Combusken, then walked through the doors. He ran over to a table with a bunch of other people at it. There was a tall guy wearing a coat and a fedora, and a few Pokemon were standing around the table. They were a Treecko, a Piplup, a Pidgeot, and a Squirtle. It seemed to be an odd bunch if you asked me.

They all seemed distracted by something, but I didn't see what was so interesting about a wall. The Treecko seemed especially confused. Something must have happened to them. I felt sorry for them without any real reason to. Turns out, I can still hear stuff outside even though I was in a pokeball.

"Hey, guys!" My new trainer yelled happily as he unclipped my pokeball and held it in front of him.

"Yes, Timothy?" Fedora hat guy asked. He seemed surprised at my trainer's, I mean, Timothy's excitement.

"I just caught a Pokemon!" Timothy yelled as he jumped up and down. This even caught the Pokemon's attentions. They all looked, well, except for the Treecko, he continued to stare off emptily.

"Really? What kind?" The man asked tonelessly. Timothy threw my ball and I appeared in a flash of red light. Suddenly, the pain from the battle rushed back to me and I fell to the ground, convulsing. Fedora hat guy suddenly looked scared. "You better take her over to Nurse Joy. She looks hurt." Timothy scooped me up and ran me over to the nurse's counter. One of them instantly got up and ran over to meet him halfway.

Taking me from his arms, she carried me over to a machine. She carefully set me down on the bottom, and the doors closed on the egg shaped machine.

A/N: Before you say it, yes I did change her name, but how much sense would it make to have her basically be in a new life, but have the same name? That would be like a huge coincidence, so now she's Cindy, well at least until Timothy names her, that is. And she's a Poochyena! That's because on the voting thing in my profile, Darks got the most votes. So what will happen now? Will she be told about herself as Celli? Or will something else come in to make her epiphany come at a later time? It's probably obvious what I'm thinking of for the next chapter, but still, what do you guys think?

Yep, I mentioned combiomorphs again. And she'll have reappearances a few times in later chapters, too. If you'd like to know more about combiomorphs, or if you'd like to know about my challenge to all readers, mention it in your review or PM me about it. I hope you guys liked the chapter!

Pika!


	23. The Beach

A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter

A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter. Thank you to all who have been reading and to Sailor Nibaru, Lady of DarkFire, Natasha Mikkle, and srgeman for reviewing! (Yes I started doing 'thank you's' again. Enjoy!

Chapter 23: The Beach

Visible, green waves fell over my skin. They went up and down, crisscrossing in the middle. Every part of my body that it touch suddenly became comfortable. The lights changed colors, but constantly stayed in the warm, dark colors. I felt cozy in the machine and was about to lie down when the whole process stopped.

The door slid open and Nurse Joy appeared above me. She pulled me out carefully and set me on a map. "Feel better?" She asked me.

"Yep." I said, but it sounded more like a little yip. She smiled warmly as Timothy walked over. He paid the bill and carried me back over to his friends. He set me down gently on the table. The other Pokemon ran over to me as Timothy talked to the Fedora hat guy.

"Hi. I'm Rachel." The Squirtle said, holding out a hand to shake. I sat down and held out a jet black paw to shake back.

"I'm Cindy." I said and looked at the rest of the Pokemon. "Who are they?" I asked.

"The Pidgeot's name is Gregor, the Piplup's name is Rain, and the Treecko's name is Seth." She said, pointing to each one respectively. I nodded to each one in turn to say hello. They nodded back.

"Why's the mood so glum?" I asked the downcast group.

"We don't exactly like to talk about it." The Pidgeot, Gregor, said, his head lowered.

"Okay, I understand. I guess." I mumbled, my voice low. The Pokemon continued their unsociable attitude, so I turned my attention to the humans.

"Marius, you know we should really be getting off to Dewford town for our next gym badge, you know." Timothy said to the Fedora hat guy. "And you need to train the Pokemon. It's not like the gym leader's going to give you a free badge every time."

"Yeah. I know." Marius said, nodding his head slightly. "But how are we going to get there? The route is all water and we don't have a boat."

"I know a man who lives by the sea, he has a boat and I think that he would let us ride it if we wanted to." Timothy said, moving his hands with his sentence. Marius looked off in space and then nodded.

"Okay. Let's head over there. The sooner we get away from Petalburg City the better. I don't want any reminders." He said. I tilted my head slightly and barked, confused. Marius looked down to me. "It's nothing, really. Don't worry." He said.

"Okay." I said, not totally buying the explanation. He turned his attention to the rest of the group.

"Time to go, everyone." He said. All the Pokemon got up and hopped down from the table. I followed and landed smoothly on the floor. "Let's go." Marius and Timothy led us out the door and into Petalburg City. I walked beside Rachel.

"Won't anyone tell me what's going on?" I asked her. She sighed and looked over to me.

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to hear it." She said and looked back to the road. I followed her, not pressing further. The small city wasn't very busy today. It was like everyone decided to stay inside for some reason. It wasn't too hot, so something else must have been going on. I ignored my suspicious feelings as we arrived at a beach.

The sand was soft and felt nice on my feet. Every step I made made an imprint in the sand. After about five or six footsteps, the first ones would disappear. It was pretty cool actually, but I didn't let myself loose control and start jumping around like a Buneary or a Pachirisu. We Poochyena were known to be calm and cool, andI didn't want to make my species look bad.

"Help!" I heard the throaty cry. It sounded like an old man. I stopped and turned my head in all directions.

"Did you hear something?" I asked Rachel. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow and shook her head.

"Help me!" The old man's cry sounded again. My ears pricked as I focused in on the source of the noise. The others still had no reaction. I took off without waiting for everyone else to respond. Timothy saw me and ran after me.

"My Poochyena! Where are you going?" He screamed behind me, but I was too fast for him to catch up. I heard the others sprinting behind him. In the distance, I saw two black blurs. I tried to focus my eyes to see who they were. Leather jackets…they were members of Team Blasters! Sara told me about them when I was just a pup. She told me to avoid the group at all costs. They were the reason why Sara looked the way she did. All they did was experiment on the oddities of life, thinking that they could make superpokemon capable of capturing the world. They almost achieved it, too, with the combiomorphs.

Sara always said I was special, that Team Blasters would have their eyes on me if they ever found me. She said that we lived in forest, hidden, just to keep from getting caught. She said there was something about me they would envy, like my DNA or something. There was something else, too, something that even I don't know. She said my past was false, but I have yet to understand that. Some of the things she said, they sound so science fiction to me. Parallel dimensions, legendaries, video games…What the heck is a video game anyway? It's like she knew everything, but couldn't tell me anything. It all still confuses me to this day.

I didn't have any more time for rambling, and I wasn't about to turn tail. It was time to fight.

A/N: So she knows some stuff, but she thinks it's all fairy tale. But, still, what would make her so valuable to Team Blasters? And if one of the group talks about Celli, all will be out, plain for 'Cindy' to see. That's going to be a fun chapter to write! But first, we have to see how this fight with Team Blasters will go.

Yay! Combiomorphs were in here again. My challenge to all is still open. Just ask me about it. And read the first reply to this challenge, Sailor Nibaru's Jupiter's Gift story. It's the second combiomorph story besides mine! Read it sometime!

That's all folks,

Pika!


	24. Control

A/N: This is the first chapter I actually pre-wrote. We reach 100 pages with this chapter! Yay for me! Thank you to all that read and/or review. Enjoy!

Chapter 24: Control

The old man lay cringing on the ground just a few feet away from the Team Blasters people. He was wearing an old sailing suit and seemed to be covered in something brownish red. Blood? A Mightyena stood over him menacingly.

"Give us the boat." One of the men said. The old guy cringed again.

"No." He said. The men snickered and looked down to the Mightyena.

"Then we'll force it from you. Finish him, Darkwolf." The Pokemon gave a sharp bark and jumped for the man, sharp teeth bared. Thankfully, he didn't get far enough to hurt him, I made sure of that. I slammed into the side of my evolution so hard that he flew off his course. He landed easily about five feet away and turned to face me.

"What's this?" The man asked, eyeing me. "A Poochyena?" He laughed, "My Mightyena will defeat you easily. Go." He said and the dark Pokemon dashed for me. His teeth glowed an eerie purple as he readied his Crunch attack. I rapidly retaliated and jumped out of the way, the attack slashed through the place I was just standing at.

I ran for its side and used a Bite attack. The attack hit perfectly and I clenched my teeth tightly. Darkwolf reared up into the air and fell back down on his side, squishing me into the ground. I was forced to stop my Bite attack because of that and instead, focused on trying to get the black wolf off of me. I pushed up with my back and the Mightyena's body lifted with ease. How could I lift him so easily? He's so much bigger than me!

I took advantage of my new found strength and threw him off my back. He landed with a 'THUMP!' a few feet away and started to pull himself up from the ground. It wasn't that hard for him, he wasn't hurt too bad, yet. I ran for him, making the first move. Suddenly, it was like I was going on automatic. It was like I wasn't me and that someone else was taking over. The Mightyena stopped moving around and stared straight at me, wide-eyed.

Suddenly, a huge stream of fire rushed out of my mouth, heading toward Darkwolf at full speed. He finally clicked back to reality and dodged out of the way at the last second. How in the world did I just use Flamethrower? Maybe it has something to do with how I don't feel a part of my body…?

I felt odd, different. And it had nothing to do with how I didn't feel connected. I felt larger…more powerful than any Poochyena should be. Even a Mightyena! I knew they couldn't use Flamethrower either. Was I something else? What's going on? Darkwolf began running for me, its most powerful attack was charging in its mouth- Dark Pulse.

The little purple balls flew at me quickly. I dodged them without trying, jumping around and even over the shots. Only then did my paw come into sight. It wasn't jet black and small, it was huge and an odd shade of orange. I'd seen these kind of paws before on an…Arcanine? Did I just become an Arcanine? Wow.

My giant muzzle suddenly opened, but I did it this time. I was back in control! But how? I decided to focus on the battle even though I had turned into a huge, orange dog. I moved around easily, it was like I'd always been an Arcanine. I could feel the fire trying to get out, so I let it out. A huge, five-pointed burst of flame rushed out of my muzzle. It toasted the Mightyena, burning his fur.

Darkwolf yipped like a little puppy as he ran around in circles, trying to put the remaining flames at him. A red flash surrounded the Pokemon and it was sucked back into its ball.

"Wow…" I heard a voice come from behind me. I turned around quickly. I didn't realize they'd got here. Rachel was the source of the cry. They all jumped once I was turned around.

"You look just like…" Marius began, not finishing the sentence.

"Celli." Timothy finished, amazed. As soon as that word was spoken, I about fainted. So many memories rushed through my head at once, it was overwhelming. I kneeled down to the ground. _'Periwinkle, Gregor and Rachel, drowning, the floating island, me being a Growlithe, then Arcanine, Rain and Seth, Marius being in Team Blasters, the death of his two closest Pokemon, Rin, her betrayal, me becoming human, Rain's feather, Timothy, Ironhead, Flame, Marius' secret that he told all of us, Jerome- his Tyranitar, the tornado, Marius' conversion from Team Blasters to against them, the gym battle, Rachel, Seth and I using our strongest attacks on Cosette- Marius' Absol, Rain fighting the Geodude, the Sandslah using Earthquake, me turning into an Arcanine to save her, my own death,' _then the last memory crossed my mind, _'and Mew.'_

I was overwhelmed by it all, so much that I was losing control. I roared loudly, enough to wake anyone in the forest and took off. My growls were filled with pain. The cries must have been hard for anyone to hear. I ran without thinking, my mind completely blank.

Remembering everything in only a matter of seconds…it was impossible. I threw back my head and screeched to the sky. But I didn't stop. I wouldn't stop until I fainted, which I knew, would be all too soon. The forest cast shadows on my fur as I ran through. It seemed endless, which I really hoped it was. I could just run on forever.

A/N: She's an Arcanine again! But is that a good thing? What will happen to her now? Where will she finally end up? Sorry that the chapter wasn't too long, but I wanted the effect of the last few sentences. If I get 10 more reviews, then we'll have 150 reviews on this story, so I encourage all of you to review so we can reach this goal! I'll be sure to thank everyone individualy in the next chapter! Review!

There's been yet another reply to the combiomorph challenge! This one is srgeman's Three Stories. It's the third combiomorph fic! It's really good, too. Read it sometime. The combiomorph challenge is still up for everyone!

Pika!


	25. Under New Management

A/N: Another pre-written chapter

A/N: Another pre-written chapter! I'm starting to like pre-writing stuff. I don't know if you guys noticed, but I've been updating every other day for the past five chapters or so. So that's going to be my normal updating time. Anyways, thank you to srgeman, Shinningkit, Natasha Mikkle, Sailor Nibaru, Auralucario, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, and Kendra Mckleen. It's people like you that make writing worthwhile. Here's the chapter, Enjoy!

Chapter 25: Under New Management

The moon soon hung delicately over me. It cast a soft glow on my orange coat. After running all this time, I started to feel weak, but I wasn't going to stop, no chance of that. The moon was all the light I had now, but it was enough. As long as I got away from that beach and all those reminders of my past life, I would be fine. In a way that is. I didn't think I could ever return to being the person (pokemon?) I once was. Things like this tended to have a lasting affect on a person.

A huge, gray building appeared in the distance. It looked like an abandoned factory of some kind. The whole setup of it gave me chills, but I felt myself being drawn towards it. As much as I was repelled, I was intrigued. I completely stopped myself from going to the place and fell over in the process.

I pulled myself up and shook off the excess dirt from the ground. I was about to turn away from building, which I could now see was quite elaborate, when I felt something sting me in the side. I turned to investigate and saw a dart hanging out. As soon as I found it, I pulled it out with my teeth, but it was already taking affect.

"Sev!" A huge black snake crawled out of the trees around me. It stared at me like I was an entertaining show. It didn't even move, probably not feeling the need to. The sedative spread through my body, causing me to fall. I landed on the ground softly and everything went black.

"It's the one we've been looking for. The human turned Pokemon." I heard a voice say. It sounded amazed, like the event was unbelievable. Then I heard a snicker.

"We'll have no trouble now, will we?" I heard the other voice say.

"Shhh. She's waking up." The first voice said, hurriedly.

My eyes fluttered open. The light was dull, so I cold see everything easily. Two men stood over me. One had a brown and light brown body with purple ears and a forked, purple tail. He must have been the Alakazam/Espeon combio Marius was talking about that day so long ago. But that meant…I was face to face with the leader of Team Blasters. I gasped.

"What?" The man asked. "Are you surprised to have finally met the leader of Team Blasters?" He laughed, "well don't be, because now you work for me. You will refer to me as 'Master' from here on." I was about to say something when I noticed the roll of tape strapped tightly over my muzzle. My paws were held to the floor by strong chains, immobilizing me.

The other man laughed once he saw my vain attempt to move. He held an odd controller with two buttons on it, one green and one red. He pressed the green one and a huge shock ran through my body that seemed to emanate from everywhere. I couldn't scream so my eyes bulged and I held my breath. I felt fried on every part of my body, and since I couldn't move my paws, the pain continued for longer than it should have.

I finally collapsed as my head banged onto the floor. I tried to smooth out my ragged breathing, but to no avail. The combio spoke up again.

"As you can see. We will not tolerate anything wrong out of you. We have implanted shocking droids all over your body, and if you dare to disobey, whoever is in charge of you at the time will not refrain from pressing the 'Shock' button. Of course, if you dare to double-cross us, ever, then I, myself, will be forced to press the 'Overkill' button." He said, pointing to the red button on his accomplice's controller. "If I press it, you will wish you were dead, but you won't die. It's the worst torture imaginable. Understand?"

I had no choice but to agree. I couldn't move my body after all. He stared into my eyes and smirked. "I hope you do…" he mumbled so it was barely audible. He got to his feet and stood above me threateningly. "Training will begin immediately. We will be using the crash course method." He said after clearing his voice by making a throaty sound. "We will now let you out of your restraints. Don't make any wrong moves." With that he stepped back, as did the grunt accompanying him.

Once he was far enough away, he shouted, "Unlock the chains!" I heard a mechanical click as the gray links slid off of my arms. The tape was even snipped from my mouth. Without thinking, I jumped up and shot huge fireballs at the two of them. They vanished into the air just as the first one was about to hit them. They reappeared after the attack was done off to my right.

"Did you forget? I'm a full Psychic combiomorph." The man said gruffly. "Sam?" He said simply. Sam must have been the grunt who was with him.

"With pleasure." The shock ran through me just as before, but it still felt fresh. I fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"STOP!" I screamed, my voice cracking. Of course, since I was an Arcanine, it sounded more like a low howl. Soon, the pain subsided. I used my paws to calm the places that still hurt. The two of them snickered as I picked myself up from the ground.

"Come on, Celli." My eyes suddenly flashed up to his in surprise. "Yes, I know your name, too. That I found out from Marius. Well, before he betrayed me, that is." He explained while looking off in space, then he focused back to me. "Your assignment will be to defeat him and those who travel with him. But not yet, first you must be trained to let out your full ability."

I looked down and whimpered. I didn't want to have anything to do with this, but it seemed I wouldn't have choice. If I could only get rid of those shocking droids, then everything could be better, right?

"Oh, and I thought you should know, if you go anywhere near water, then those droids will kill you easily." I nodded as he turned his back and began walking for the door. I'm a big, Pokemon, I could easily ram my way through the wall. So guess what I did? I threw myself straight into the wall.

I was right, a huge hole was left in the wall I just got through. Now I was in a hallway, but not just any hallway, I was in what must have been the grunt's bunking area because grunt after grunt filed out of the doors on either side. Not only them, but their Pokemon as well. Looks like I'll be having to fight my way out of this one.

Suddenly, I heard the man's voice behind me. "I guess I'll have to use the hard way then." He called and another shock began.

A/N: So we meet the leader of Team Blasters. Isn't he just great? Celli's going to be fried if he has anything to do with it! His name will be revealed in the next chapter, so check it out then. So we only need 3 more reviews to have 150! Review now, please!

The leader of Team Blasters is a combiomorph! As for the combiomorph story writing challenge, I'm sorry to say that there have been no more replies. But Sailor Nibaru's story, Jupiter's Gift now has a chapter 2! I encourage you all to read it.

Pika!


	26. One of Them

Chapter 26

A/N: Not prewritten this time, oh well. Maybe I'll try prewriting again some other time. Well anyway, Periwinkle just got its 150th review by Sailor Nibaru! This chapter is dedicated to you for taking the time to review. Thanks, Mew! Enjoy the chapter everyone!

Chapter 26: One of Them

I collapsed to the floor and screeched loudly. A few convulsions ran through my body before they had finally settled down enough for me to move. In the time I had been convulsing on the floor, several grunts had sent out their Pokemon to face me.

I was completely surrounded. A Houndoom stood over me menacingly and a Sycther stood next to it, its scythes extended. I started to pull myself up but plopped back down once I saw the madly sharp blades.

"Good job, Celli." The man's voice called to me. "Now come with me." I didn't budge, no way would I listen to what he told me to. "Come on, be a good Arcanine." He said. I began to move backwards from the Pokemon, who separated to allow me to pass. I got up the rest of the way and walked over to my 'master'.

I held my head down as I followed him out of the room. He led me down the dark hallway. It seemed like electricity hadn't worked around here for a really long time. We walked in silence, I tried to ignore the fact that I was agreeing with this. Besides, maybe I could escape somehow. But the electric droids. It didn't seem like escaping would be happening any time soon.

Suddenly, we came to a stop. A door lay in front of us with a scanner to the side. The combio laid one of his hands onto it. The scanner lit up green as a scan ran over his hand. "Name?" The electronic voice asked.

"Keith Reirns." He said. So that was his name, it didn't seem to fit the kind of person he was, but how would his mom had known that at birth? I heard a click sound and door opened to reveal a brightly lit room. A few grunts in leather jackets sat on a bench towards the back.

"What's our assignment," called one of them, an auburn haired girl by the looks of it. Her jacket had a few badges on it; I assumed she was the leader of this bunch. Keith sighed, as if this question had been asked of him much too many times.

"You will go out into the nearby forest and steal starters from new trainers." He explained and pushed me in a little bit. "You will also be training this Arcanine." He said and walked the remote over to her. "If she causes any problems, don't hesitate from pushing the green button." He said, pointing at the green button.

"Okay, now go!" He said as he pressed a switch on the wall. The back side of the room began to open up like it was a huge sliding door. The collection of grunts and their leader started off. I followed behind unwillingly.

"Arcanine! Get up here!" I heard the girl call from the front. She must have been talking to me so I trotted up to the front of the group. "Good." She said once I was up there. As she got ready to speak again, she got out the remote and held her finger close to the green button.

"Do you see any trainers?" She asked, stopping the entire group. She made it obvious that she would press the button if I didn't comply. I finally gave in and sat on the ground. I closed my eyes and alerted my ears. They twitched side to side on my head.

"Come on, Mudsplash!." I heard a young, adolescent voice call cheerfully to his Pokemon. He laughed happily as his Pokemon called back to him.

"Mud-kip!" It said jubilantly.

"I hear something." I barked as I took off after the noise. I crashed through the woods with my team right behind me. After running straight for awhile, I forgot where the voice was coming from.

"It's getting pretty dark out." The male voice pondered, "We'd better get down to a city before the night Pokemon come out. I've heard they can be pretty dangerous."

"Mud…." The Mudkip said warily. He had good reason to, too. A huge Arcanine was standing above it. I grinned evilly at it and it shrunk back in fear.

"Aren't you coming, Mudsplash?" Called the boy, who I could now see plainly. He wore a new T-shirt and jeans, there wasn't even a little bit of mud on it. He began to turn around and froze when he saw me.

"A…A Arcanine…?" He mumbled as he took a careful step back. "Don't hurt Mudsplash, please." The young boy said as he tripped over a rock and fell down in a heap. I shook my head and sighed. The Mudkip finally got some bravery in it and it jumped up and stared me down.

"Do NOT hurt Stephen." The little Pokemon said.

"Really? Why not?" I asked carelessly, this little guy would be easy to beat.

"Because I said so." With that, he shot a streak of mud at me. The ground type move knocked me back a couple steps, but I held my ground. If this little guy wanted a battle, I would give him one. I ran for the mudfish swiftly and lowered my head.

The Skull Bash worked beautifully, the Mudkip hit a tree nearby and slid down it. Mudsplash wasn't done yet though. He got back up and began firing Water Guns at me. I remembered what Keith said, that water was basically my worst enemy. I jumped around them, narrowly avoiding them. Mudsplash wouldn't quit! I knew my luck wouldn't hold out forever.

I was getting desperate. And that was when it happened. The worst possible thing, even worse than getting hit by the water. My friends showed up.

A/N: Uh oh, what will happen now? There's no avoiding what will happen next. Celli will have to do something no one should ever do, kill her friends. Is there a way out now that she has the shocking droids and is part of Team Blasters? What will happen now? Review please! Our next goal is to have 200 reviews!

Pika!


	27. Crimson Rain

A/N: So you guys might be wondering what took so long, well 1. I couldn't figure out how to make Celli escape, 2. the email dilemma that I'm sure you all know about and 3. I'm the most busy person alive with VBS, Sunday School Picnic, and broadway shows all over the course of two days! Well anyway I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. This is dedicated to WITS for the character of Crimson.

Chapter 27: Crimson Rain

"Celli!" Marius yelped once he saw me. I flashed a look over to him and then back to the Mudkip. It continued shooting water out, making it hard for me to concentrate.

"How convenient." I heard the woman say as she strolled up behind me. "You can kill them now." She said with a hearty laugh. The kid had finally got himself and ran to get his Mudkip. The two of them got out of the little clearing in the forest as fast as they could. I could care less about them, in fact, I was a little glad they escaped, but that didn't help me now.

I stood frozen in the middle of the clearing. The woman and the rest of the grunts stood behind me while Marius and my friends stood in front of me. "Celli, please! Come with us!" Rachel cried as she walked out in front of Marius.

Rachel, my best friend since kindergarten…I couldn't take it anymore. "Attack her, Celli." The leader of our group commanded me. I felt every muscle in my body pushing me to obey her. It strained me not to listen to her. My eyes half squinted as I tried to make it out of the pressure.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Celli. They're just using you, they don't love you like we do. We're your friends." Rachel said, moving her hands with the words.

"Celli! I said to attack!" The woman cried and whipped out the remote.

The words hit my body like a tidal wave. I couldn't hold it back anymore, I jumped. "ROARRRRR!!" I screeched as I soared through the air at her. Just as I was about to land, a white glowing beam from above fell straight onto my back, pushing me to the ground. It dug me into the dirt and finally stopped. I instantly looked up to see who had attacked me.

A blue snake with feathered ears and one white and one red horn was flying around in the sky above me. A Dragonair had attacked me! I pulled my way out of the ditch carefully. The attack hadn't hurt me too much, I was still ready for more fighting! I shot a Flamethrower into the sky without thinking only to find that the attack hit nothing!

I felt something slam into my side, but once I turned, it was gone. I looked around quickly, turning my head this way and that, but I couldn't see her! Suddenly, I was surrounded by purple and yellow fireballs, some were even green! The Outrage attack hit me strongly and made me fly backwards, deeper into the woods. Why was this Dragonair attacking me? It made no sense! I pulled myself up from the ground, but didn't let my guard down. I stood, alert. My teeth were bared menacingly as I waited for the attack.

Suddenly, I saw a speck of blue light in the distance getting closer and closer at remarkable speed. I strained my eyes to see what it was, but it was too late. The gigantic blue body rammed me at top speed into a tree directly behind me.

The wood cracked and splintered as I crushed it with my weight. I literally went trough about halfway through the tree before stopping. The actual tree began to moan as it swayed backwards. Flames rushed from my mouth to the attacking Dragonair who was floating right in front of me, laughing.

Of course, the move missed and instead hit a tree opposite of mine. The tree burst into flames, dancing and laughing. The hungry cinders jumped from trees to branches rapidly as they left a trail of disaster.

"Perfect." The Dragonair muttered, "now the shocking droids will be shorted out and you can escape." She said, my eyes widened at her as I pulled my way out of the trunk of the tree. I jumped to the ground just as the tree fell to the ground.

"What!?" I practically screamed at her.

"I was helping you, isn't it obvious?" She asked me, her head slightly tilted to the side. I rolled my eyes. "I, too, have been in your situation. You don't have to worry about being shocked now so tootles. Just make sure the fire gets you before you leave or else you will have to worry about being shocked. Oh yeah, my name's Crimson in case you ever want to talk to me again. Bye now." She said and flew above the trees. Suddenly something clicked in my mind.

"You're not leaving me are you?" I called after her, but she was gone. Looks like she was leaving me. As she had been talking to me, the fire spread. The clearing was now bursting with flames, every tree was lit bright orange by them. A creaking sound suddenly interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see a huge mass of tree falling down on me.

"Help!!" I screamed and the burning tree collapsed on me, taking away my breath.

A/N: So what do you think of Crimson? Rather rude isn't she? Oh well, at least she saved her. But who'll save her from the burning tree? Find out next time! Oh, and sorry, Crimson is a girl! Not a boy! Sorry, WITS.

The combiomorph challenge is still going on! Reply today! Remember, we're still trying to reach 200 reviews before we hit chap. 30!

Pika!


	28. Forest Fire!

A/N: Enjoy everyone. I tried something new in this chapter. And it was pre-written! Yay! ATTN: Crimson is a GIRL, sorry WITS. She won't be in this chapter, but she'll be in the next one. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and are goal isn't 200 anymore, it's 175. Let's see if we can get that far...

Chapter 28: Forest Fire!

What most people don't know is that fire hurts fire Pokemon just as much as it hurts any other Pokemon, but we just tend to have more resistance than them. Many a fire Pokemon has died in a fire because reach temperatures so high, that nothing but the embodiment of fire could survive it. Even the greatest a fire Pokemon can't make it through a fire that goes over four hundred degrees! That's why I had to get out of this fire before I was burned…and crushed alive.

The tree trunk nailed me in the back, causing me to drive into the ground. The tree finally stopped moving once all its weight was across my back. I looked above my tiny ditch to see the fire climbing towards me fast.

I struggled against the solid weight on my back, but got nowhere. I kicked with my feet and clawed with my paws, but the tree wouldn't budge. I tried to turn my head to bite at the wood, but since the tree was so close to my neck, I couldn't pivot it around enough to try.

How to get help? Then I remembered something from history class back in our world. The Indians used to signal one another with smoke signals. If I could make a small fire that would send smoke up, I might be able to get my friend's attention if the fire hadn't done so already!

I blew some fire in front of me that caught onto what little remaining grass was still there. I blew air on the sides to keep it in control as the fire got larger. Spirals of smoke floated into the sky. Just then, I felt heat claw at my back through the tree trunk. '_They'd better get here soon._' I thought as the fire began to spread to me.

Meanwhile…

Maruis and the group and the Team Blasters troop watched as Celli disappeared into the forest with the Dragonair. The group leader laughed. "Well that just makes it easier to exterminate the traitor. I know boss wanted Celli to do that job, but we'll do just as good." She said to her group.

"You're on." Marius muttered as he reached into his bag.

"Everyone! Attack at once!" The woman yelled as her grunts lined up in a row beside her. They unclipped the pokeballs from their belts and released them, one per person. A Mightyena, Houndoom, Scyther, Weaville, Mismagius, and Umbreon appeared in front of them. The woman didn't send out her Pokemon, probably saving her's for last. Gregor, Rachel, Rain, and Seth all lined up beside Marius and Timothy to get ready to battle.

Marius threw one of his silver pokeballs and out came Jerome, his Tyranitar. Timothy let out his Combusken, Flame and they all got ready to attack.

"Now-" But she was cut off by a scream in the distance. "What was that!?" She cried as she looked around the forest.

"Oh…" Rachel said as she looked above the trees. Part of the forest was lit bright orange in the distance. She could see flames leaping up into the sky, it was like a burning inferno of flame! "Celli!" She yelped and broke formation. She dashed into the forest towards the raging forest fire.

Back with Celli…

The fire in front of me was rapidly getting out of control and racing in all different directions. The burning would on my back pressed into my fireproof fur. But if anything gets hot enough, even fireproofed stuff is likely to be burned. I groaned as the heat scathed my fur. Though this would short out the droids, it wasn't very pleasant.

Suddenly, water rushed over my back, but I wasn't shocked! The fire must have worked! I heard an angry sizzle as the fire was replaced by a vapor mist. The water was then shot down at the fire in front of me. I was safe for now, but the fire could spread again. I waited for the vapor to clear enough for me to see who had saved me.

"Rachel!" I yelped once I saw her. "You think you could help me get this tree off of me?"

"Sure." She said and walked over to me. Having been burnt, the tree was pretty weak, so all it needed was a little squirt of water to break it up.

"Thanks, Rachel." I muttered to her. "And sorry for attacking you before."

"It's okay, and don't you think we need to focus more on getting away and less on talking?" She asked me seriously while pulling me with her.

"Um, yeah, that makes sense. But it would also help if I could move my back leg." I mumbled, just then noticing that my back, right leg wouldn't move.

"Oh, darn."

A/N: She broke her leg, well at least she got out from under the tree! Now the battle that was going on in the clearing can continue only this time Celli's on the good side! Be sure to check out the next chapter!

Combiomorph challenge is STILL open. Reply, people, reply! I've updated their first story, An Apple for a Ralts as well.

Pika!


	29. Chaotic

A/N: Okay, so I won't be able to update Sunday, so I'm updating today and tomorrow to make up for it. But I should be back to put chapter 31 up on Tues. Everyone, pray that I have a good trip and happy 3rd of July! That counts, right…oh well, just read now. Enjoy!

Chapter 29: Chaotic

"Here, I'll support your side." Rachel said and ran over to my bad leg, and leaned against my side there. "Okay, now go." She held my hurt foot off the ground to make it easier for me and I took off. She almost flew into the air, but she held the broken foot gently so it didn't hurt too much.

I dashed through the forest, dodging the fire. Luckily, Rachel had taken care of most of the fire on the way there so now there wasn't as much in my way. I sidestepped trees and leaped over bushes, trying to ignore the broken leg. Suddenly I stepped out of a bush to see a regular dogfight going on.

Marius' Tyranitar was shooting Hyper Beams at the Blaster's Pokemon as Flame ran around beating up any Pokemon that came close to Jerome. Seth was countering a Houndoom with his Grass attacks. Even though they were weak. Rain had her hands full with the Mighyena as she danced around it, shooting Water Guns when she could. Gregor tricked and teased the Scyther with his speed, careful to make sure it didn't touch him. All the rockets were fighting my friends, except for the leader. She had taken a seat on a low branch and was watching the fight with a smile.

Rachel and I stared at the chaos. It was unnerving! Neither side seemed to be winning or losing, it was just massive uncontrol! Marius and Timothy were commanding their Pokemon with the best strategies, they could think of, but nothing was working.

The Scyther pulled one of its scythes up and slashed Gregor across his stomach. He cringed as he whimpered and fell out of the sky. "Agh!" He screamed as he hit the ground. He clutched his belly as the blood fell from it freely, but he wasn't done yet. With one eye half-squinted in pain he flew back up, his wings glowing bright as he countered with a Steel Wing attack.

Rain was attacking the Mightyena with a glowing beak in a Peck attack. The Mightyena swiftly turned and she flipped onto its back. Suddenly, she began twirling quickly, so much that there seemed to be a blue tornado on its back. The Mightyena jumped and nipped at her, but it couldn't knock her off. Glisteningly bright stars flew from the mini-tornado and hit the Mightyena. It screeched in pain as the Swift attack enveloped it

The dark sky suddenly became bright and shining despite there being no sun. I stared at the small spot of blue sky above us in wonder, then I looked down and saw that Seth was glowing. It was a Sunny Day attack! Soon, the glow stopped and a bright green beam shot out of his mouth. The attack encircled the Houndoom he was fighting, but once the light faded, the Houndoom still stood there, barely scathed. Its teeth were bared as it growled at him. Suddenly, his teeth glowed red with fire and a small envelope of fire surrounded them. It roared as it dove in to Seth. He screamed as the fire burned his plant-like skin.

"Wow." I muttered to Rachel. She set my foot down gently and walked in front of me.

"Yeah, I know." She mumbled.

"This is…it's just horrible." I said sadly, looking downcast. "Should we help?" I asked my little turtle friend.

"Yeah, I think so." She said and walked out of our cover. I followed, hopping on three legs. It really wasn't that hard. No wonder dogs in the real world never seemed to mind having three legs instead of four after an accident. As soon as I stepped into view, I heard someone call my name.

"Celli, you're back!" It was the leader of this little troop.

"And not with you." I finished her sentence for her and struggled over to where my friends were. She glared at me and pulled out the remote. I watched her press the green button, but nothing happened! The shock droids had been shorted out, just as Crimson said! Suddenly, I felt really grateful to the rude Dragonair.

I was soon attacking the Scyther with a Flamethrower while it was distracted by Gregor's odd flight patterns. The fire burst out of my mouth and hit the Scyther right in the chest. I heard it gasp as it turned to look at me. Its eyes narrowed as it swung a scythe right at me, only had enough time to put my head down before it sliced my back.

"Ouch!" I screamed as I readied a Fire Blast. I was about to fire it off when the Scyther, and everything else disappeared from sight. Green, purple, and yellow flames rained down around us, hitting everything in their paths, except, oddly for me and my friends. I saw the speck of blue before the Scyther went flying into a tree, fainted. It was Crimson! She was back!

She floated up next to me as the Dragon Rage attack cleared. "Miss me?" She said half-heartedly as she squinted her eyes, checking for Pokemon that weren't defeated. Clapping filled the air and we looked around for the source. "Over there." She mumbled pointing with her tail to a tree. The leader of the grunts was smiling and clapping for us as she stood on a tree branch.

"Bravo. Bravo." She said, her cheering lifting. All the grunts, who had called back their defeated Pokemon looked up to her in confusion.

"Eh, boss. What's so good about them beating us?" One of the ones closest to her asked.

"An amazing display." She told us, her hands thrust into the air. "Sadly, we have only begun." She reached into her backpack and pulled back a pokeball like none other I had seen before. It was metallic purple and had a silver 'L' on the top half. "I present the legend ball." She said while holding it up for all to see. It glistened in the receding light from Seth's Sunny Day.

"Inside this ball is the most powerful Pokemon the world has ever known. And now you all get to see it." She said and pressed the button on the ball.

A/N: What Pokemon is it? Will they be able to beat it? Find out…um…tomorrow? Not much of a wait, but still. Remember to review. We're so close to 175!

Wow, guys, there's been another reply! This one's The Combios Dawn by Lady of Darkfire! Thank you so much Darkfire! And all of you read it, it's really good! I'll keep you guys posted on more combio updates! Why don't you try writing one of your own? There's already four in existance! Yours can be the fifth!

Pika!


	30. Interruption

A/N: Okay, so I'm back for this week, everyone. If you saw the note on my profile, you'll see why I've been gone. Anyways, we reached our goal of having 175 reviews by this chapter and we've gone over! It was 179 actually! And we're not done yet, up to chap. 30 means this one counts to, so I want everyone to review until they're too tired of reviewing. Help this become a Fanfiction worth seeing by more people by reviewing! Enjoy, everyone!

Chapter 30: Interruption

"Hm." She said and jumped off the branch and onto the ground smoothly, as if she were a cat. She smirked at us as she twirled the ball in her hand. She flipped it back, out of sight, and pulled it back, two more balls accompanying the first one. They were all the same structurally, but the colors were different. The two new ones were yellow and blue respectively.

Three apparently ultra strong Pokemon, now how in the world were we going to be a match for them? I quickly took collection of our ranks. Gregor was struggling with his stomach slash, Seth was pretending that he wasn't hurt, but according to all the burns and cuts on him, he was in a lot of pain. Flame was a little beat up, but he would still be ready to fight. Rain was fine, that Mightyena wasn't too hard for her. Rachel hadn't even started to fight yet and I had a broken leg. Jerome was as good as ever, seeing as he was protected by Flame. Crimson would probably be our best bet for winning, but all in all, this was going to be simply impossible.

She walked up to us until she was almost ten feet away, sneaky and sly. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was a Vulpix. I sighed as she held the balls in clear view. She rechead her thumb up to the button on each, and they all enlarged. She threw them in front of us.

Out of bursts of red light, three Pokemon formed. They came into easy view one at a time. The first had a blue body and a yellow head, jewel inserted just above the closed eyes. It was Uxie, the being of knowledge. The second also had a blue body, but its head was red and had a jewel above wide open eyes, alert for anything. It was Mespirit, the being of emotion. The third, like the first two, had a blue body, but this one also had a blue head with a jewel above half squinted eyes, concentration was apparent here. It was Azelf, the being of willpower.

The remaining light faded among the trio and the lady spoke up again. "Separated, these three are almost too easy, but together, they're almost impossible to beat." While saying this, she separated here hands and brought them together, intertwining the fingers. "Now you must face the wrath of this trio!" She said while swiftly jumping up the limbs of the tree until she was within view of all of us. "Go!"

The three of them were Psychic, we'd need Dark and Ghost attacks to counter them. Tyranitar was a Dark type, and both Crimson and I could use our Crunch attacks, but what would happen to the rest of them. "Attack with all you got!" I screamed to my teammates. "Dark attacks preferred." I added right before the real dogfight started.

The trio floated for us quickly, jumping left and right so we wouldn't know where they were. I looked side to side, watching for the attack that was sure to come, Crimson had floated up a bit and was now diving for the attacking Pokemon. Finally, the attack hit. I was knocked to my side, but I was ready. I picked myself back up as quickly as I could with only one foot. When I turned, I saw Uxie.

Though the Pokemon was slow, it made up for it with defense. It also had the ability of reading the minds of fellow Pokemon, which made it just that much harder to beat. That was also why it never opened its eyes, why should it?

"Ready?" It asked me as a blue glow surrounded me.

"As always." I mumbled as I was lifted into the air by the Psychic attack. I floated up for a little while until Uxie thought it was enough. Instead of throwing me, she dropped e straight down.

I spiraled to the ground, headlong. I closed my eyes and struck my forepaws out, ready to catch the ground. The air rushed through my fur, ruffling it. It was almost endless. Suddenly, my downward spiral stopped. I wrenched my eyes open to see I was on the back of a gigantic blue serpent. It was Crimson! She'd saved me! I heard Uxie growl below us.

"Don't expect that too often." She said and rolled me off of her while we were still five feet from the ground.

"Thanks." I said, rolling my eyes at her, but she didn't see it, she was too busy with the Azelf. I turned back to Uxie who seemed to be preparing something of its own. But before it could do anything, I rushed it with my Crunch attack.

After I released, it didn't even looked phased. They must have been a really high level. It grinned at me as its eyes suddenly opened. I was completely mesmerized by the yellow orbs. Just as quickly as they opened, they closed again.

Now it was my turn to attack. I ran for it with a Body Slam, but took off in the opposite direction and landed on a tree instead, of course I didn't know this, but I was confused then. I bit down and scratched it fiercely. Right after I took another mouthful of wood, I went back into common sense. I was attacking a tree. I spit out the wood and splinters from my outh and my face flushed. Stupid Confusion attack.

Now that I could focus, I ran back to the Uxie, who was laughing like crazy. It was seriously rolling on the ground! I even heard the lady in the tree laughing at me. I grimaced at her as I shot a blaze at Uxie. This knocked it back to reality and made it float back up, I even singed it a bit! That's about the greatest accomplishment I've had the whole time, but…

Suddenly, I froze. I couldn't move a single limb, all I could do was breathe. The Uxie's opened eyes, now red, shot straight through me. I could almost feel them going through. The world around me was frozen as well. Everyone caught in the break of battle. But this didn't include the lady and her grunts. Although they were frozen, it was from fear, not the same as us.

I heard a resounding gong both around and above us. The noise was like none I'd ever heard before. It was beautiful, it was horrible. It was lovely, it was chaotic. It was wonderful, it was unbearable. What kind of creature could make such a sound?

All the others seemed to hear to, their breathing was picking up. The tempo of the noise matched our frozen dance.

One gong. The Uxie staring into my eyes.

Two gongs. Azelf letting out a silent battle screech as it lifted Gregor, Rachel and Rain in its Psychic attack.

Three gongs. Mespirit dodging a quadruple attack from Crimson, Seth, Jerome, and Flame.

The world suddenly seemed to ripple in my eyes as the music filled our small area. The music was nameless as far as I knew, but beautiful, only something wonderful would sing these notes. The sounds…would a musician be able to replicate them? I doubt that, some of the notes were like none I'd ever heard. Though they were all beautiful, unmatched.

Like water, the small dome, frozen in time, rippled everywhere. The rippling matched the rhythm perfectly. The whole display was simply amazing. I knew that all the others must have been having the same feeling.

"What's going on?" I wanted to ask, but I couldn't. I'd have to let events play out as they would. Sharp ringing suddenly cut through the silence as the section of rippling dome in front of me began to produce small, metallic waves on the wall.

Whatever was coming in, must have been the source of all this beautiful noise. Though my face was probably an angry grimace on the outside, I tried to smile. Whoever this wonderful lady was, she deserved more than I could give for her music in the least.

A/N: Who's coming? What Pokemon would you say is the most beautiful. Just out of curiosity, should I start using Spellcheck? I hope you liked the chapter! I'm pretty sure it's longer than most, but get over it, this is the new and improved Periwinkle. Now the combiomorph section:

Wow, lots of replies this time: Walks in the Shadow's Innocence, and a 'I'm going to write one,' reply which isn't definite yet. Lady of Darkfire's The Combios Dawn now has three chapters (four including the prologue). And she needs a temporary beta, so go check her story out, but I loved Innocence, it won't take you but five minutes to read, but it's worth it. That's all the updates for combos so far. Who wants to write the sixth Combiomorph story? See you guys!

Pika!


	31. Protector

A/N: Thank you to Sailor Nibaru, lunasca, Running Storm (special thank you), Amethyst Princess 27, Salimus, Suicune lord, Lady of Darkfire, and srgeman. Remember that goal I set to get to 200 reviews by chapter 30? Amazingly enough we reached it! And it only took six or seven chapters! I don't know how we reached it, wait, I do. Thank you reviewers! You make this worth writing! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 31: Protector

A pale yellow head came out of the wall, ever so slowly. The music was coming from it, I aw its mouth move in shape of the sounds it emanated. Soon, the entire serpentine body came through the rippling wall and hovered above us, its red structure swaying back and forth. In the light of the moon, the Milotic's body was amazing. It seemed that a ray of gold was shining down on it. Suddenly, the music stopped.

Time once again flowed within the bubble,and end, the target appeared beside it, Mesprit! Four Pokemon had fallen to the ground from what must have been a great but outside it, it seemed to freeze. Time came back to us and my eyes met the full intensity of Uxie's eyes. My mind was blank. I couldn't remember anything. I looked around the place quickly, confused. So many Pokemon…and two humans…I turned back around to see a little yellow-headed Pokemon.

As I looked around, I saw four attacks collapse on nothing height and were getting themselves back on track. An Azelf floated in front of them, but he had his eyes to the sky.

"You're Uxie!" I cried to it, it nodded. Just then I remembered seeing the other lake Pokemon there, too. "And Mesprit and Azelf! Cool! What are you guys doing here?" I asked Uxie with a slight tilt of my head. I took a step toward him and screamed. "OWWW! What happened to my leg? It feels broken! Ow! Ow! Ow!" I turned to it and licked it trying to make it feel better.

"Arcanine, enough." I heard a beautiful voice from above me. I looked up to see the most beautiful Pokemon in the world.

"Wow! You're a Milotic!" I yelped in awe.

She sighed. "You've lost your memories haven't you?"

"Ummm, yeah I think so, I don't remember anything. Do you know who these people are?" I answered, but she ignored the question.

"Uxie, give her memories back, please." The Milotic asked the legendary.

"What? Why?" He mumbled as if he were a defiant child talking to his mom.

"Because I said so." Yep, very mom-like.

"Oh, fine." He said and turned to me, the gem on his head glowing blue. "Just look at it." He said and I imagined him rolling his eyes. I stared into the jewel and felt the memories coming, slowly, unlike that last time…I shuddered. Finally, he took the gem away and looked back to the water type.

"She'll be fine now." He said as if he hadn't enjoyed it.

"Thanks." Despite his bad attitude, he deserved to be thanked, right?

"Meh." He said tonelessly.

"Okay then. I've come to get you three and save you from the Blasters. The council was beginning to be angered with me when it took me so long." The Milotic told them. Uxie and the other two sighed.

"Finally." They all muttered in unison.

"We thought you'd never come!" Azelf said excitedly.

"They treated us so horribly, I could barely stand it." Mesprit said while playing with the hair like extensions on her head.

"'Bout time" was all Uxie had to say as he crossed his arms.

"Umm…Excuse me." One of the four Pokemon who had fallen down spoke up. It was Rachel! There was a crack in her shell where blood was seeping out, but that was about it for damage.

"Yes?" Milotic asked.

"How're you in charge of them if you're just a normal Pokemon?" Rachel asked her. I, myself was interested in this as well. It seemed like the others were too because the entire atmosphere turned quiet.

"Oh dear me, don't you know? For every set of two or three legendaries, there's always a regular Pokemon to back them up. If anything happens to one of those under my charge, I would have full responsibility of taking care of the matter. It's quite hard and the council only accepts the most magnificent of Pokemon for this job. You know of the three legendary birds, right? Well there is an amazing Rhydon watching over them right now. But if anything ever happened to us protectors, then a national alarm would go out and whoever answers it and completes the task will take the position of the fallen protector. Understand?" She finished and looked at each of us in turn.

"So who did you replace?" A Pidgeot, Gregor, asked. He was covered with slashes and scrapes, and his stomach was still bleeding. I instantly felt sorry for him. He must have been going through a lot of pain just then.

When she started to answer the question, she looked at me specifically. "The last protector these three had was an Arcanine, and he was the most noble person I've ever met. I still grieve his death. Unlike usual, I knew him well, I was his apprentice, the first ever the council would allow and I would automatically become the new protector after him. Would you like to hear the story of what happened to him?"

"Sure." We all said at the same time and she began to float down until she was curled onto the ground.

"Ohh, not this again!" Uxie yelped as he settled to the ground. Milotic gave him a harsh look. "Okay, it started on a lovely day in autum…"

* * *

"Time to wake up, dearest one." Arcanine nuzzled the young Milotic softly, she let out a gaping yawn and sat up. Arcanine moved back a little to allow her to wake up a bit. She yawned again.

"So what are we to do today? More training?" She asked him as he uncurled her body slowly. The cave seemed even more lovely today, the light glistening from the patterned water seemed to hit her scales perfectly. It made that little light that came from the front of the cave seem like a strong strobe light, but she didn't mind, she rather like the patterns it threw on her scales.

"Yes, but after we check on the three lake Pokemon." He said as he began to walk to the front of the cave. Milotic floated after him, soon they were both out in the lovely sunshine. No matter how times Milotic came out here, she could never ignore the beauty of the sun shining down on the perfectly still water. It made it seem almost translucent. "Mesprit first." Arcanine said as they walked to the neighboring cave.

Lake Verity wasn't only their home, it was their paradise. Everything they needed was close by and abundant, the council made sure of that. Soon, we were inside Mesprit's cave. She didn't like to just hang out in the open, you had to call her and give your name before she'd come out.

"Mesprit?" The deep voice of Arcanine resounded trough the cave.

"Name?" A high female voice called back, though the source of it was invisible.

"Arcanine and Milotic." He answered. A mist suddenly appeared in the center of the cavern and there was Mesprit. "Very good. How are you this fine day?" Arcanine asked with a smile, he was always so kind…Milotic wished she could be like that.

"I've been fine, but it's my brother I'm worried about." She answered.

"Really? What's wrong?"

"I haven't been able to connect with him through my psychic energy. I think something may be wrong." Arcanine nodded.

"Which brother?" His gruff voice asked.

"Azelf." She said. "Would you like me to transport you?"

"Go ahead." Arcanine said with a roar. Whoever was messing with Azelf would be gone before long. Arcanine and Milotic were suddenly consumed by a purple and blue teleport and sucked over to the other lake.

"Good luck." Mesprit muttered as the last of the teleport dwindled. Though they couldn't hear what she'd said, they'd need it.

A/N: The exciting conclusion to Milotic's story will be in the next chapter! What do you think is going on with Azelf? And am I confusing anyone with the whole idea of normal Pokemon as protectors for legendaries? Not much else to say here...

Combios: A few more replies, but nothing definite, but continue to keep watch or write one of your own!

Pika!


	32. Milotic's Story

A/N: Thank you to Lady of Darkfire, WITS, poopfartbutts, Salimus, Amethyst Princess 27, lunasca, Sailor Nibaru, writingboy, Auralucario, RunningStorm, and srgeman for reviewing. And Periwinkle just got an awesome new summary thanks to srgeman!! Enjoy Chap. 32, everyone:

Chapter 32: Milotic's Story

The two of them reappeared in a blip of light from the teleport. They found themselves in a forest with very tall trees. They had been here many times before, but this time it was different. The atmosphere was usually serene and calm, but Milotic knew all too well that the current atmosphere was wrong. It felt troubled, and strained. Something wasn't right about it.

Arcanine seemed to be meditating while standing. He stood completely still as the increasing wind around them strengthened, causing his great mane to flow with it. He looked so majestic when he did this, it was amazing. He held his eyes closed with what seemed like no effort. His face was not tense, nor had it been hardened by years of doing this strenuous job. When he did this, you knew he was very good at what he did. Suddenly, his lids lifted up to reveal his fiery orange eyes.

"We must hurry." He said and a bang of thunder resounded immediately afterwards. Milotic jerked her head up to see the gray clouds swelling and growing. She inched back a step from it. Arcanine glared at her. "Never turn away from danger, not even a storm." He growled as he took off ahead of her.

She flew just above him, snaking around trees and shrubs with ease. They knew the forest well, and coud navagate it better than most of the natives. They exited the forest to be met by a most unwanted sight. Two men stood outside of the cave with rifles in their hands. On the far bank from the island, a pick up truck was idled, ready to go at any time.

"We'll come in from the back of the island, come on." Another thunder, this time accompanied with lightning sent the world briefly into black and white. Milotic's face was horrorstruck, she couldn't move. Storms and her never realy went wel together. Arcanine had to nudge her with his muzzle to get her to move. She suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Oh, behind the island, right." She said and turned to go deeper into the forest before turning to go behind it. From an above view, they would've been positioned to the right of the island, where'd they be in complete sight of the guards if the guards were to look over. The goal was to be where they couldn't see them.

"Almost there…" Arcanine mumbled after a minute. "Now, turn to the island. You swim under water so they won't see you, I'll swim too." Milotic nodded. Arcanine could swim without it hurting his body, it was part of the requirements of being a Protector. Milotic still had yet to master these standards.

They ran through the tiny bit of forest separating them from the water and jumped in. Milotic dove under easily and swam around quickly, reaching the island in only a few seconds. Arcanine, a professional swimmer now, made it over not long afterwards and they both stood with their backs to the cave, waiting for Arcanine's signal.

"You go over and I'll run around the corner. Fight them and I'll take care of Azelf." Milotic nodded and took off to the skies, the rain hitting her body rapidly. She looked down quickly to see Arcanine rounding the corner. She nodded to herself anf flew up and over the brown rocks, darkened by the rain.

She had to get there first, so Arcanine could get in to save Azelf. This was going to be big, nothing like this had ever happened in her life! She shuddered at her inexperience. But Arcanine had spent most of his life training her for this. She didn't even remember her father, all she knew was Arcanine, and she couldn't let him down!

She growled as harshly as a Pokemon with a beautiful voice can once she reached the edge. She needed to surprise them first, and she needed to do it quick, she could hear Arcanine coming in, fast.

A blue orb suddenly formed in her mouth and shot out a such speed it was only a blur. It hit the two man quickly, knocking them to the ground. They weren't done yet though, but Milotic was ready. She had floated down from the edge and her tail was now turning metallic. Just as the men got up from the Water Pulse, she hit them with her Iron Tail attack. But she timed it wrong and only hit one of the men.

The man she hit was crushed into the wall and knocked unconscious. She felt a rush of wind behind her as she pulled her tail back from the man. Arcanine had arrived. The man she'd missed picked up a gun just as another set of lightning bolts broke out followed by loud crackles of thunder.

The sound was so loud, she didn't even hear the gun being fired, but it did. He'd shot a bullet straight through her tail. The first thing she felt was pain. Constant, unstoppable pain. The next thing was the beginning to black out, but she couldn't let that happen! She couldn't let Arcanine down like that! With all the strength that was left in her, she shot an Ice Beam at the man with the gun. He froze over, but this wouldn't last for long so she wasted no time in going into the cave to help Arcanine.

She found him knocking out a man with a Flametrower to the chest. Milotic knew instantly, by the awards decorating his coat, that this was a Team Blaster's admin. She gasped as he was knocked out.

"You took care of the men outside?" Arcanine asked once he saw that she had entered the room.

"Yeah, but one guy's just frozen, we need to get out quick." Milotic answered. Arcanine nodded. He was very sufficient in times of crisis.

"You see that cage over there?" He asked while pointing to a cage on the ground. "It has Azelf in it. Go get it and fly back over to the forest. I'll meet you there." Of course he'd tell her to bring it over, there was no reason to risk drowning Azelf with Arcanine swimming. Arcanine watched her pick up the box and ran out of the cage after her.

The man with the gun was still frozen, so they were safe from him for the time being, but the storm had not yet let up, in fact the rain was coming down harder and the wind was so fast that it howled. Lightning lit up the sky every other second. Even as she took off into the sky, the wind threatened to throw her out of the air.

Arcanine jumped into the water when he was about halfway over. Soon she landed and turned back to watch the last bit of Arcanine's journey across the water. He was almost over. Suddenly, the sky lit up again with lightning, and bolt flew to the water, electrifying it.

"Ahhhhh!" Arcanine screamed, the electricity running through his body. The scream arupty stopped and Arcanine's body sunk below the surface. Milotic almost screamed, too. She dropped Azelf's cage and dove into the water, taking what little bit of electricity was still there.

She swam quickly over to the spot where she saw Arcanine go under at, and then swam down without hesitation. Milotic could breathe underwater, so there wasn't that much to really worry about.

Soon she saw the dark form beneath her, resting on the bottom, unmoving. 'Oh no,' she mouthed and dove down next to him. She didn't have hands, and Arcanine was much too heavy to be carried by mouth, so what was she to do?

Then she remembered, her body was very flexible! Arcanine had made her do tests where she had to carry huge logs from one side of a field to another. And every time she succeeded, she was given an even bigger log to go with. And now all that training was going to pay off for her, or so she hoped.

She curled her huge tail around his body, wincing in pain whenever the bullet spot hit something. Soon, she was ready to go. She pushed off from the ground and floated up through the water quickly.

Suddeny, she broke the surface with Arcanine still in her grasp, but as soon as she got out of the water, the bullets started. The zipped past her and nipped at her, but so far none had met their mark. But she could hear several hitting Arcanine. She zipped over to the forest quickly, diving down to grab Azelf's cage as she went.

She flew through the trees as swiftly as she could without running into anything, wich was pretty fast. Soon the bullets stopped and she finally landed on the ground to rest. The first she did was open Azelf's cage, it was her duty as a Protector after all, to do such things. Azelf flew out sluggishly, cradling his head in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Milotic asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, what happened to him though?" Milotic just shook her head and closed her eyes, then turned to Arcanine. He was taking very slow breaths that made his entire body shudder as his chest rose and fell.

"Milotic…" He muttered and Milotic came over to him, tears welling in her eyes.

"Yes, Arcanine?" She mumbled.

"You…you are the new Protector of these three, protect them well." Arcanine managed as his breathing became more haggard.

"No…" Milotic started to say. "No! NO! I'm not ready yet! You must stay! To teach me in the least. You can't leave me, father!" That was the first time she'd ever called him father, but at that moment, it was the perfect title.

"Milotic…" He breathed. "You know how much I love you…like a daughter, but…" His eyes suddenly bulged and began to close if for the last time.

"Arcanine! You can't do this to me! Azelf, use your Psychic to help him!" She cried. Azelf sighed.

"He cannot be saved by my powers. He's gone and you are our new protector." Azelf stated sadly. Milotic knew he was experiencing just as much grief as her for her fallen friend, and hero.

* * *

"And that is what happened." Milotic finished the story and we all stared at her blankly. "I will never forget Arcanine." I saw a tear start to well up in one of her eyes, but she shook it from her eye. "Now then, we should really be going."

"Finally! I thought you'd never finish that story!" Uxie said with his arms crossed.

"Okay then, well I hope to see you soon, Milotic. Did your gun wound ever get better?" I asked her, concerned.

"Yes, but it's scarred, my eternal reminder of that night." She whipped out her tail for us all to see and there it was. A pink, fleshy scar was at the base of her tail and it was huge. A horrible mark for such a pretty Pokemon.

"Wow, that must have hurt." Rain murmered.

"It did, but Arcanine and Azelf mattered more than me then." Wow, I wished that I could be that noble and unselfish. I supposed it was just going to be one of those things I'd have to work on. "I'll be leaving now, but I'll leave all of you with a gift."

"What's that?" Both Flame and Seth said together.

"Health." She then flew up into the air, spinning as she went up. Blue light surrounded her and I could hear a bell tolling loudly. Suddenly, the glowing blue separated from here and dropped on us in small speckles. As soon as one hit me, my broken leg was better, along with every cut and bruise I had.

We all danced in the blue stuff, celebrating its presence. We were all healed! Soon, it stopped raining down and the chiming bell stopped. She flew back down and the lake trio flew over to meet her.

"Goodbye." She said and all four of them disappeared in a blip of light. The dome around us was shattered and we returned to normal time. Everything was the way it was supposed to be before, nothing had changed. Except for the absence of Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie of course.

"Goodbye." I mumbled as the last of the dome was shattered.

A/N: Wow, this chapter was a new record for me. Yay! Six pages, can you guys believe it? I don't even know how many words because the processor doesn't have that opton, but it hs to be at least 2,000 words. Okay, so how was Milotic's story? Really long? Yeah, including last chapter's section of the story, the story alone was six pages! What'll happen next?

Combios: Srgeman has updated Three Stories for everyone to read. 2 chapters, go check it out when you can. Same two people will use Combios, but I don't know when. Also, I've created a C2 for Combio stories and now I'm looking for staff. If you'd like to be staff, say so in your review.

ATTENTION!! ATTENTION!! A Combiomorph foum has been made and it's under my Forums. Everyone is invited to come talk about anything and everything Combio, so come check it out as soon as you can!!

Okay, that's all for now,

Pika!


	33. Torture

A/N: Thank you to Lady of Darkfire, srgeman, RunningStorm, Amethyst princess 27, dark and white kirby, Sailor Nibaru, and poopfartbutts for your reviews. It means a lot to me. I'll be gone for two weeks after this chapter, so I made sure it was really good for all your enjoyments. Well I'll still be here, but I won't be able to update. No Word program at the library. So anyway, enjoy chapter 33!

Chapter 33: Torture

**Team Blasters HQ**

Keith was walking down the hall to the cafeteria when he heard the buzzer sound. He had only sent out one team tonight, and that was Celli's training team. Well now they were back and he would get to check the girl's progress. He grinned to himself. This was definitely worth missing a snack for.

He turned right around and in the direction of the main entrance. At a giddy pace, he began walking down the hall. The buzzer sounded again. He couldn't wait to see her! From his current position, it would probably take about three minutes to get to the front, much too long. He was too anxious for that.

So he did the thing any full Psychic combiomorph would do, he used Teleport. His natural ability to know the immediate future should have alerted him. The fact that Celli's natural waves were absent from his Psychic radar should have clicked in him. Even his ability to read the minds of anyone up to one hundred yards away should have made it obvious! But it didn't, none of it did. And what came next was a complete surprise to him.

He reappeared in the main lobby, a high ceilinged atrium, that appeared to have four solid walls. It took an expert eye to find the door that was so well hidden within the wall. Too make security even better, the door could only be opened from the inside. A small television was inset next to the door with his team displayed on it. He couldn't see Celli, but he just figured she was a little farther back than the others, after all, she wasn't quite used to this place yet.

He pushed open the door easily and greeted the group. "Welcome back." He said once they were all gathered in the lobby. He closed the door and turned to look at the group. He panned his eyes across and looked behind them, is eyes becoming more and more strained. The six grunts, and the admin stood perfectly still, their heads down.

"Admin Lauren. Something's changed…" Keith began, his eyes red with anger.

The lithe girl spoke up, her head still to the ground. "She…escaped." She said her voice breaking. She'd been taught how to deal with the pressure when questioned, but she never thought it would be from her own boss!

"Look at me." The man growled.

"Sir…" She let the thought trail, you could hear the troubled tone in her voice.

"I said, LOOK AT ME!" He screeched, his Espeon tail lashing around in anger. The grunts shared quick looks, they knew what would happen to the Admin.

"Y-Yes, s-sir." Lauren looked up. Her eyes were red and bulging. Tears left trails down the side of her face. A few fresh ones were even traveling down as she lifted her head. Keith looked disgusted.

"You're crying." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact, and it didn't have a it of concern in it. No, no concern, there was only anger, and hatred. Lauren cringed, causing a few more tears to escape.

"Yes…" She said as se pulled her arm up to cover her face fro him.

"Don't do that, come with me." He said as he turned around. The rest of you go assemble everyone and tell them to go to the arena.

"Yes, sir." They all said at once, eager to get out of there. But not exactly too eager to see what would happen in the arena. Keith and Lauren exited the opposite way as them nd began walking down the long hallway to the arena.

"Now then, tell me what happen." He demanded, Lauren nodded.

She told him of everything that had happened. From Celli finding the Mudkip and her friends showing up to the disappearance of the entire group, plus her legendary trio. Keith scowled at this. She also told him of the escaped Dragonair who had first attacked Celli and eventually helped her revolt. Even how when she came back to the fight, that the remote wouldn't work on her.

"That's it then? They just disappeared?" Keith asked when she was finished.

"Yeah, it was like a dome suddenly came up around them and then disappeared." He nodded slowly.

"Give me the remote." He mumbled.

"Wha--"

"Just GIVE it to me."

"Okay, okay." Lauren reached into her sack and pulled out the remote with the two button on it. She handed the small device to him.

"Thank you." He held it in is hand delicately and observed it, walking all the while. He turned it over and over in his hand, completely entranced by it. Finally, he stopped flipping it and gently touched a slightly upraised portion on the back. Suddenly, the compartment opened up to reveal a green screen with a single bleeping dot on it.

"What's that?" Lauren asked.

"It's a tracking device!" Keith yelped. "I should of known Technology would put something like this in here! Remind me to thank them after we get finished at the arena." Then an evil glint ran through his eyes. "That is, if you're still here." A short laugh followed this remark. Lauren shuddered. "We're here." He said as he stopped in front of a doorway not unlike any of the other doorways they'd passed on the way there.

He pushed open the door to reveal a gigantic room. It was a full-on auditorium with dozens of seats set above the ground in an oval shape for viewing. In the center was a huge cage, where the action would take place. People were already starting to come in from various doors.

"Hurry." He said. Lauren didn't see that too apt to hurry, but she kept behind him anyway. He led her down a long flight of stairs to the cage. Soon they were in. As soon as she stepped through the door to the cage, she started to get scared.

"Wha-What's going to happen?" She mumbled, stopping dead in her tracks. It was a stupid question, really, she'd been to many of these herself. She knew what was going to happen to her.

"You, my dear, will be turned into a combiomorph and then made to go into combat without a brake first." Keith explained, his purple ears pointing up. Lauren's face went white. She'd seen this happen only three times before, and all three times, the victim died. She shuddered at the thought.

"No, please, no." She mumbled, still not moving.

"Yes, oh, yes!" Keith exclaimed. "Guards, retain her please." Lauren was about to run one he said that, but as soon as she took the first step to run, two strong hands crushed her arms.

"Ow!" She screeched as she struggled to push back. The men behind her just place their hands on her back, forcing her to move forwards. Unwillingly, she took a few steps towards he middle before letting her legs hang loose under her. This was no problem for the guards though, they just picked her up and carried her into the middle. "Stop!! Please!!" She yelped all the while, but they weren't listening. The men finally stopped and griped her tightly so she couldn't move. She tried to kick them, but found that useless, they had grown immune to pain.

She heard ruckus from above her. The audience must've arrived. "Is everyone here?" Keith asked someone who was standing by the stairs.

"Yeah." The man replied.

"Very good. Get the syringes down here and I'll go inform everyone on_ today's events_." He said as he ran over to the stairs. Lauren shuddered, but that was even almost impossible because of all the restraints. She'd given up screaming awhile ago. She would just have to accept what happened and beat up whatever Pokemon she had to fight. She swallowed. What if…she wasn't even going to go there._ 'Just keep yourself under control,_' she told herself, '_it'll be easy._' She sighed as she braced for what was sure to come.

Suddenly a voice echoed across the room with the help of a microphone. "Attention all ranks of Team Blasters!" It called. It was Keith. "I give you Admin Lauren! She has failed me, but seeing as I am the way I am, she will be given a second chance as a combiomorph." A cheer rose from the crowd and he continued. "But of course, if she cannot prove herself and dies at the hands of her opponent afterward, then that will be that, yes?" A chorus of agreements came from the audience. "So give her your full support when that time comes. For now, let the transformation begin!!" The crowd went wild. Lauren couldn't believe she had been one of them.

"Pull her arm out." A voice ordered from behind Lauren and her guards. He soon came around them where she could see him. He was short, bald guy with a lab coat on that seemed kind enough, if it wasn't for the two needles he held in his hands. Lauren had never done well with needles, she got sick at the sight of them, but for some reason she couldn't pull her eyes away. She was entranced by it.

The guard to her right forced her arm open, underside up. As much as she tried to pull it back, the guard was too strong. She stared at her arm endearingly, she knew that it would never be so innocent…so fragile ever again. That soft white flesh would never be there again. She valued those last few seconds of normalcy. The doctor held one of the syringes out carefully. The entire auditorium was completely quiet.

He removed the cap and lowered the sharp point into the crease of her elbow, where the vein was pumping madly. It poked through her skin and her eyes bulged. She could feel the liquid flowing into her bloodstream, more forcing its way in though. It hurt more than any other shot she'd ever had, she had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming. But she was only halfway done now.

The doctor took out the other syringe and put it right back into the exact same place the first had been in with out wasting a second. Seeing as that spot ad just been used for the first one, it hurt even more. Lauren actually let out a squeal during this one, but the pain was only beginning to start. The doctor pulled the empty syringe back and threw both of them to the far end of the cage.

"Quick, we have to get out, now." The doctor ordered. The guards had been through this before. They both dropped her to the ground and ran for the entrance of the cage. The three of them exited and locked the door quickly.

Lauren writhed on the ground in obvious pain. "Ahh!" She screamed as the pain engulfed her entire body. She cringed and shook, almost like she was having a seizure. The people in the stands gasped as the first changes started.

Her skin was becoming bright yellow and pointy, right before her eyes. If she wasn't freaked out yet, she was now. "STOP!!" was all she could manage, but of course it didn't stop. The changes just started coming faster.

Her entire body became covered by the yellow fur, some places pointier than others. Soon, a huge, light blue frill appeared around her neck, accompanied with a pained grown from the girl. A fish-like tail also formed from just above her coccyx. Once the tail was formed, it lashed about in anger, flattening the already flattened dirt around her.

"Agh!" She yelped as the last change commenced. Two yellow ears, pointed like lightning rods grew from her head. The transformation was done, but the pain was far from over. Keith started to say something, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. All she knew was the pain that coursed through her body.

As she cringed into herself, she heard a gate being opened and something being pushed in. Something huge. _'Get yourself together! You have to beat it, whatever it is!'_ She screamed at herself. She concentrated fully on putting her pain aside. Which was almost impossible, mind you.

"Char!!" Her opponent screeched, revealing its identity to her. Slowly, she began to uncurl herself. The movements were so forced, they were almost mechanical. _'Don't let it get you! Get up! Get up!'_ She encouraged herself. Her face was twisted in pain as she rolled over on her stomach to stand up.

"And the battle begins!" Keith's voice echoed from the microphone. The audience stayed virtually silent. If he had said that, Lauren knew the Charizard was almost on her. She only had a little time left to get up.

She pushed up to her knees and arms just as the Charizard caught up. It took advantage of her current position and kicked her in the chest. She went flying backwards and landed sprawled on the ground. _'Don't give up Lauren! You have the powers of Vaporeon and Jolteon now, use them!_' She told herself and it finally clicked in her that she could use Pokemon moves.

She called upon her new Pokemon instincts to help her drown out the pain. To a Pokemon, this pain would be nothing and that was what she needed. She felt the endurance of a Pokemon flow through her and she jumped up from the ground.

"What's this? She seems to be ale to ignore her pain!" Keith's voice came over again. Lauren smirked to herself. This was going to be easy now. The pain was just a little blip in the distance now. Thank goodness Jolteon had such an endurance or else she would be dead by now! But she knew, after the battle, she was going to be in lots of pain.

The Charizard jumped into the air and flew above her, about to fire down a Flamethrower. But Lauren was quicker to the hit as she caused an electric current to run through her and to the Charizard. The electric attack hit cleanly and the Charizard screeched. It fell down slightly, but caught itself. He glared at her angrily before loosing another Flamethrower.

She started to jump out of the way, but wasn't fast enough. The flame surrounded her. She dropped to the ground and rolled. She'd learned this was the way to get rid of fire when she was only a child, and, apparently, it still worked. The fire was quickly quenched and left several burns across her body.

Though this only made her hurt more, it also made her even angrier. Then she remember the thing that would most likely get her to win. She grinned evilly to herself.

"Hey, idiot!" She called to the Charizard, provoking him. His eyes narrowed as he dove down, wings glowing. She held out her hands and water burst from them catching the Charizard in surprise. He fell to the ground, just as Lauren wanted him to.

A lightning bolt ran through her body and focused in one, explosive area. She shot the lethal electricity out of her with a screech and it exploded onto the Charizard. He screeched, and writhed about as the water that was still on him reacted to the electricity. As quickly as it had begun, the attack was over. The damage was done.

The Charizard laid there, unmoving. She had done it, she had actually done it. She'd done something no one had done before. She'd defeated the dragon that had taken so many lives before her. She stared at the fainted Charizard, a smile passing over her face. This one wasn't of evil, but of genuine happiness. She would get to see another day.

Unlike the others put through this torture, she would live. But only then did she realize the true evilness that she was apart of. Who would kill a person for one mistake? Who would be so evil as to enjoy watching it? Who would turn an innocent person into such a beast? Ut she knew the answers to all those questions. The answer was so obvious. Why hadn't she seen it sooner? It was Keith. Keith Reirns.

Her eyes narrowed as she look at the person on the platform above her. He was saying something and the audience was responding, but she could care less. Her eyes tore at the Psychic combio standing up there.

'_I'll kill you, Keith Reirns, if it's the last thing I do, I'll kill you.'_ Her hands clenched against her sides, causing her new claws to dig into her skin.

* * *

**Meanwhile, with Celli, Marius, Timothy, Rachel, Gregor, Seth, Rain, Flame, and Crimson…**

"And this is the end of the forest." Crimson said. He had led us all the way back to the beach so we could be on our way to Dewford.

"Okay, thank you, Crimson." I told her, she smiled, something I'd never seen from her.

"No prob. If you ever need me, I'll be around to help." She said as she flew back in to the forest. It'd be nice if she could come with us, but sadly, she had to keep tabs on the Blasters HQ, just in case. We all respected that.

"Goodbye!" We all said together and then turned to road…er…beach ahead.

"Next stop, Dewford." Marius said. I walked over to him to walk beside him. I could see the boat in harbor ready to pick us up.

A/N: Wow, this one was even longer than that last one! Nine pages this time! Wow, I guess that's what happens when you devote a whole night to writing…anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter. I just wanted to show you guys what happened to Lauren. Don't worry, we'll keep checking up on her in the following chapters. And combiomorphs were in this chapter, big time, hope you liked it! Remember to review everyone because this is going to be my last chapter for two weeks, so yeah.

Combios: THEY NOW HAVE THEIR OWN FORUM!! It's fully made and ready for anyone who wants to come through, in case you didn't read this note in the last chapter (I added it in later). The C2 is made and working well, still looking for staff though. Please put your combiomorph story on FF! It will be put in the C2 and in the forum so you can get reviews on it! So the sixth will be next. Whose will it be?

Even more good news! Anyone heard of LiveJournal? Well my friend Sailor Nibaru has made a combiomorph community on it! And she's looking for members! I actually joined the site just so I could be in the community! Don't worry, it's free if you want to join. Well, a big thank you to Sailor Nibaru for doing this, and I hope you all run over there and look at it! If you're not a member, but still want to look at it, go to the site and then Explore LJ, then there's a yellow box on the right where you can type in 'combiomorph'. It'll take you to the community and you can look at it! It's awesome!

See you guys in two weeks!

Pika!


	34. Skarmories, Killers, and Explosions, Oh

A/N: I'm finally back!! Hello! Here's that update you've all been waiting for!! I decided it was about time I updated and it just so happens that this week is my birthday week! So I'll give a present to you guys instead of the other way around. Doesn't make sense? Oh well. Thank you to fronteir399, Lady of Darkfire, Darkamber8828, dark and white Kirby, Scyther Fan, poopfartbutts, Amethyst Princess 27, Sailor Nibaru, and srgeman for reviewing!! Seth fans, you're going to love this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 34: Skarmories, Killers, and Explosions, Oh My!

"Hey, Marius, how long will the boat ride be?" I asked him, looking up into his dark eyes. Even though I was an Arcanine now, I still wasn't taller than him. I mean seriously! How can a guy be taller than an Arcanine? I'm like five and a half feet tall at the shoulder. He must've been at least six feet tall. Darn, I hated being short.

"Yeah, seriously. If I can fly there faster than the boat floats us then, well, I'll see you guys later." Gregor mumbled, flying in-between us.

"Gregor, won't you stay with us? It'll only be about two hours--" He was cut off before he finished.

"TWO HOURS! YOU EXPECT ME TO RIDE ON A BOAT FOR TWO HOURS!!" Rain screamed and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Hmm...well I think it's reasonable." I offered but Rain would have none of it.

"I DON'T CARE!! I WANT TO GET THERE FASTER THAN THAT!!" She screamed even louder. She used a Water Gun on me in anger, but I jumped out of the way before it hit.

"Hey! Calm down, okay? And get over it. You either stay or you take a two hour boat ride, okay?" I scolded.

"No way, I'm leaving. I can swim faster than that! Meet you guys in Dewford!" She said and ran for the beach.

"Wait!" Marius yelled after her. "You can't swim, remember?" But it was too late, she'd already jumped into the water. Soon, she was flopping around on the water, trying to stay up. Rachel sighed and jumped into the water. She grabbed the flailing penguin and sat a very embarrassed Rain in front of us.

"Oh, um, I forgot about that." She said sheepishly with a giggle.

"Come on, you can take a nap on the boat." I said and finally she agreed.

"Well, two hours may work for you guys, but Gregor and I have been talking." Timothy said casually, "and we decided that we're going to go ahead to Dewford and buy a room. Okay?" Gregor flew up next to him and nodded while Timothy got out a pokeball. I'd never seen that kind of pokeball before. It was black and yellow and had a 'U' plastered right in the middle of the top half.

"Okay then, make sure it's a good one and it better be close to the ocean." Marius said.

"All right, see y'all later!" He said and threw his pokeball. "Go Mollie!" Who the heck named there Pokemon Mollie? I assumed it was cute and tiny, given the name. But that name had to be the most inappropriate name ever in the history of Pokemon.

The light shot out of the ultra ball, half blinding all of us for half of a second. When it disappeared, there stood a gigantic bird. Its metal feathers shone brightly in the sun and the red feathers made the look perfect. It lifted its head to the sky and yelled its battle cry.

"Kyuuuuuuuuuu!" It screeched majestically and lowered its head back down. Finally, I could see its face and recognize what it was. The metal plated hooked beak was all I needed to see. It was a Skarmory! I took a quick step back, scared.

Skarmory is my least favorite Pokemon. Don't ask me why, I just hate them. I always have. Whenever I was human and bought Pokemon Ruby version, I was scared as heck whenever it popped up. So it's always been something I've been scared to death of, in other words. I shivered as I stared at its lethally pointed wings.

"This," Timothy said, gesturing to the Skarmory, "is Mollie." Very proudly and confidently, too. "Bye!! Flame! Ironhead! Return!" His Pokemon disappeared into their balls and he jumped onto Mollie's back, ready for flight.

"Sayonara." Mollie said and jumped into the air. Soon they'd disappeared in the horizon, with Gregor at his side.

We walked over to the cabin next to the sea which wasn't too far away from the spot where Rain had jumped into the water. The man answered the door happily. Once he recognized my friends, he gratefully allowed us a ride on his boat. He didn't recognize me as his rescuer, which was a little depressing, but why should he? I was a Poochyena then after all.

Anyway, soon we were in the boat, chugging our way right on down to Dewford. The first thing I did was go into the steering room. Not for any reason really, I just wanted to watch. The old guy was up there steering and his Wingull was sitting on a perch close by to me. Man, I hate that Wingull. Out of the few things in the world I really hate, that Wingull is at the top.

"What the heck are you doing here?" He squawked.

"Well, your master let us use your boat." I answered.

"I don't care. Who the heck are you anyway." He talked like he was talking for no reason. When I looked into his black eyes I could see nothing, no life, no hope, no anything.

"I'm Celli." I said nicely, despite his sour attitude. "Who are you?"

"Why does it matter?" He said and suddenly those eyes came to life. "You're kind of cute, you know that?"

"Um...okay." I said, taking a small step back.

"Where're ya goin' babe? I haven't even got started yet." He held his wing out, motioning for me to come over. I took another step back and he took a drink of some vodka with a straw in it that was next to him. "Don't leave me, I won't hurt ya."

"Bye!" I said and shot out of that room as fast as my feet could carry me. I walked around the deck until I found Seth leaning on the rails and looking out onto the water.

"Hi," I said as I plopped down next to him.

"Hello," he said without turning to me. "You think we could of got a worse boat? I mean this boat has to be the tiniest boat I've ever ridden on! Not to mention the smell. Seriously, has it _ever _been cleaned." He spit into the water in disgust. "Look over there." He said, pointing to a corner of the boat.

I look over there and was NOT pleased by what I saw. Two dead fish lay there, covered with flies and hornets. The floor was stained a disgusting puke green color there and the smell. Oh, the smell. It was atrocious, that's the only word for it really, atrocious.

"Well, that's pleasant." I said sarcastically and wrinkled my nose.

"Yeah, sure." He said and sighed. "You know what this reminds me of?" He didn't let me answer. "My life. My own horrid life." He shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I offered and he nodded slowly.

"Well, I was born on the streets. My mother didn't want me and I never knew my father. My mom only raised until I was five years old and could fend for myself. I suppose I was lucky to have her that long. She was a Grovyle and judging by the way she talked and acted, she couldn't be more than seventeen years old. I'd bet anything that my birth was accidental.

"After she left, I was attacked daily for whatever food I could get my hands on. Money was even rarer, but when I did get so much as a penny, I wouldn't make it through the day without something getting broken. Finally, I realized I would have to fight back if I didn't want to starve, so I did. After I…._defeated_…that Golduck, no one bothered me ever again." He sniffled a bit here and wouldn't let me see his face.

"Eventually," his voice quavered, "a gang approached me and asked if I'd like to join. In my neighborhood, if you weren't in a gang, then well, let's just say the morality rate is really low. So of course I joined, but there was a catch. I had to…._kill_ someone first. So that's what I did." His voice went up an octave. "There was one less Primeape in the world after that. And I…I _enjoyed _it. I was a really sick person then. I'm so ashamed of myself for that. It's unforgivable, really." He was on the verge of tears now.

"I rose quickly through the ranks of my gang and eventually I was the most feared person on the street. I killed people for no reason, other than the feeling of power I got from killing. I was truly evil then. Don't tell me I wasn't, I really was." I saw a tear run down his cheek.

"But then I met Rosa." His tears were quite obvious then. "She's the one who changed my ways, and the one I loved. She was a Squirtle much like Rachel, if not the mirror image of her. But anyway, she asked me the one question that I'd never thought of. The one with more power in it than any other question I've ever heard. 'Are you happy?' She'd asked me. And I realized as I stared into her blue eyes, that I wasn't. That I never could be happy with the life I lead. That I needed a new start. A new beginning.

"I grew to denounce my evil ways, and was about to ask Rosa to marry me when the unspeakable happened. We'd been dating for about a month when it happened and our love for one another only grew. You see, I'd made many more enemies than friends recently and it was the fault of one of them that killed my soon to be wife. I'll never forget that day…I'll tell you later, okay? I can't handle it right now." His entire body was shaking and the tears stained his eyes.

"Well I ran. I ran as far as I could, but wherever I went, they followed. Many tried to kill me, but I rejected my urge to kill them. I actually considered killing myself! But I couldn't do that. Suicide is the most fearful way to die. No one with any self-respect would do that. It's so stinking cowardly! I want to be known quite well when I die, and for good reasons. I don't want to be that person who only has one person visit their grave when they die. I want to be Seth the Great." He said, smiling. "I want to keep myself busy until the last day." He smiled.

"That's very noble of you." I said, looking to the sky. "I hope to be that way, too."

"And I'm sure you will." Seth said also looking at me and then to the sky. I saw something in those eyes, but I couldn't place it. Instead of overworrying about it, I just let it rest.

"Sorry about Rosa," I said, completely out of the blue, but it was appropriate.

"Oh, it's fine now, it's been awhile since then. I feel like taking a nap. Wake me up when we get to Dewford, please."

"Sure thing," I said and soon enough, I heard soft snoring coming from him. I laid down on the deck and was about to take a nap went I smelled something odd. Other than the dead fish. It smelt more like burning and not the kind from coals, this smelled out of control. The smell seemed to be coming from the steering room so I crept quietly in there. Thankfully the Wingull was asleep, I breathed a sigh of relief for that.

Bad idea.

Seeing as I'm an Arcanine, my breath is hotter than that of other Pokemon, almost like invisible fire. So a spark flashed in the air and suddenly, the room burst into flames with all three of us in it.

A/N: Aww, an emotional chapter. I love writing these. Well what'd you think of Seth's past? It was fun to write. Sorry, but my great-grandma died recently and I was really close to her. So sorry if it was a little sketchy, I'll get back to normal at writing here soon.

Actually, this is the second time I wrote this chapter. The first time I wrote it, the library computer deleted it. So I wrote this one on the Internetless computer at the house and saved it on a USB. No way is this getting deleted, it's ten times better than my first attempt!

Wow, I haven't written in a long while, sorry if it's not as good as normal. I made this chapter six pages, I hope it's long enough for you guys!! Please review! We're almost to 250 reviews! .

Combios: Wow! So many replies! I'll list them:

Combiomorph: Anabelle's Journey by Amethyst Princess 27

The Story of a Combiomorph: By a Combiomorph by poopfartbutts

My Combiomorph Story by suicune lord

Legend of Umbreon by poopfartbutts (involves combiomorphs, not about them)

So many replies….man, you guys are great. Well anyway, now there are 10 combiomorph stories!! Who will write the eleventh?

Pika!


	35. Shipwreck

A/N: Thank you to srgeman, Absolnight, Sailor Nibaru, RunningStorm, Lady of Darkfire, Black Eevee Fan, poopfartbutts, and dark and white kirby for reviewing. Special thank you to RunningStorm for the character of Reo. Hope I used him right. Enjoy everyone!!

Chapter 35: Shipwreck

The fire was everywhere, covering me and engulfing me with its flames. I tried to scream, but I couldn't, my throat was too dry. I looked straight ahead but all I could see was a mixture of red and orange, dancing there, consuming everything.

I was frozen where I stood, entranced by the swaying and jumping of the flames. It was amazing yet it was still the most frightening thing I'd ever seen. The heat intensified on my body, soon it would break through my fire proof barrier, I had to get moving. I lifted my paw, just the weight of it seemed extreme, and placed it in front of me. I watched as the fire engulfed it, but got my wits back in time to make a full stride.

I jumped through the door of the steering room and into the black cloud that surrounded the boat. I couldn't see where I was going, much less was I going to be able to swim if I tripped over the rail. So I walked carefully through the black smog. It was much better out here as compared to the steering room, but I knew that it wouldn't last long. I had to find a way out as quick as I could!

I half-ran, half-walked to the edge of the boat so I could follow along with the rail. I started making my way to what I thought was the back of the boat when I heard screaming. It was masculine, but it was still terrified. And it was coming from the other side of the boat.

I turned around and ran recklessly, not caring if I tripped. I made to the other side of the boat where I saw Seth, his tail badly burnt, along with about half the rest of him, crouching close to the side and screeching in agony.

"Seth!" I called as I ran over to him.

"Celli! Help!" He yelled, reaching for me. I picked him up by the scruff of his neck as another explosion shook the boat.

"Stay still." I said after the explosion ended. It'd almost knocked me over, but I crouched low enough that it couldn't. I picked myself back up and continued my rush to the back of the boat, where I could now see a tiny break in the black cloud. I hurried through it and found my self on the point of the very back of the boat. In the distance I could see an island, it wasn't that far, maybe I could swim…it was too risky, I couldn't, not with Seth anyway.

Another shock ran through the boat and I knew this would be the last one. The whole boat shuddered before I heard the telltale creaking sound of the floorboards breaking apart. It was now or never, live or die. It was already getting harder to stand. I turned to look at the wreck whenever a thought flashed through my mind. My friends.

Where were they? Did they make it out? Or did they die in the blaze? I didn't want to think about this, but it seemed I had to. Seth was saying something as I looked at the collapsing boat but I couldn't hear him. Nothing happened to them, they're fine, I tried to tell myself, but it wouldn't work.

"Get off the boat!" Seth yelled, struggling in my grasp. Suddenly I was running on instinct. The boat had tipped to far to stand on normally so I dug my claws in and jumped. I soared through the air and landed in the black water with a splash.

The pain was instant. I felt like cringing into myself to stop it, but I couldn't. If I did that, I'd drown and not only me, Seth too. So I pushed myself to swim, trying to shove the pain into the back of my mind.

I swam quickly, using every muscle I had in my body to propel myself through the inky water. But with every stroke I felt my resistance fading. I wouldn't be able to push it that much longer.

I clenched my teeth together, earning a shriek of pain from Seth, so I loosened them which only made it harder. Seth started to seem like a burden to me, a weight I couldn't carry but I had to. I swam onward to the island which was becoming bigger every second. But at this rate, I knew I wouldn't make it, I was too weary as it was and I still had just under a mile to go.

Just when I was debating whether or not to let Seth go, I heard something flapping above me. I flashed my eyes up to see. It was Gregor!

"Gregor! Where are the others?" I asked through my teeth.

"There already on the beach." He said soothingly, knowing that I was worked up about it.

"Really? How?" I asked, putting all my effort into talking.

"This Abra helped them somehow, I forget his name though, I'm surprised he didn't help you or else he might not of seen you…." He considered. I gave him this questioning look. "Well anyway, I saw you out here and decided I should come help, would you like me to hold Seth?"

"Yes, please." I said and he flew down next to me. I threw Seth on his back and he landed safely. I sighed in relief. Now I could focus all my power on swimming to Dewford.

"Okay then, don't worry, I'm sure he'll see you soon. Then you'll see what I mean." Gregor said. I nodded. No sooner did he say that than I felt myself being lifted out of the water. Once I could see my feet dangling underneath me, totally soaked, I felt a force pulling me to the shoreline, faster than Gregor could fly, but I still heard his wingbeats behind me.

Faster than I could collect my thoughts, I was standing on the sand, a very awake looking Abra standing in front of me. Around him were my friends all staring at me.

"Arcanine," the Abra said, "what is your name?"

"I'm…." I huffed, the pain was catching up to me and I could barely stand up. "Celli." I said as I started to get dizzy. "Who-Who are you?" I stuttered, tripping over my own feet.

"Reo." He said and I mumbled an unintelligible greeting. The world began spinning around me and I fell back a step, not falling into unconsciousness just yet. I had to make sure Seth was back first.

"Celli, are you okay?" A voice asked, it sounded like Rachel.

"Y-Yeahhhh…I'm grrreat, Rachel." I said.

"I'm Rain."

"Whatever." I said when I heard the sound of wings behind us. It had to be Gregor and Seth!! Everyone turned that way easily, all except me, I tripped and staggered around. They landed in the sand safely and that was all I needed to see.

"I'm a-going to take a nap." I said and plopped down on the ground. My head hit first and my legs sprawled around me. It was very uncomfortable, but I could careless. I was out not a minute after I fell.

A/N: Shortish chapter, but I hope you don't mind it, I gave so many long chapters! You can live with a shortish one right? Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! We're super close to 250 reviews! Yay!!

Combios: The combiomorphs ae now in another language!! Spanish, to be exact. And we all have dark and white kirby to be grateful to for it. Thanks dark and white kirby!! It's called 'Moonlight' for those of you who were wondering.

Pika!


	36. Bottle

A/N: Thank you to anon

A/N: Thank you to anon., Salimus, Lady of Darkfire, RunningStorm, Dark and White Kirby, Auralucario, poopfartbutts, and srgeman for reviewing. I hope you all like this chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 36: Bottle

I woke up suddenly, as if jarred awake. My senses were peaked and I felt ready for anything. I jumped to my feet to discover that I was standing on a bed and growling at a….painting. "Whoops." I muttered and settled back down onto the bed, dropping my pointed ears and settling into a more comfortable position.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" I heard someone mutter to my left. It was Rachel, she was curled up under the covers, sleeping.

"Oh, um, sorry. Something scared me." I told her.

"Well, there's nothing here so go back to sleep and don't wake me up until the morning!" Rachel said and pulled herself into a ball.

"Okay, sorry." I said and laid down on my side of the bed. I tried closing my eyes for awhile, but I couldn't get to sleep so I got up from the bed and looked around. We were in a hotel room, and a really nice one at that.

The walls were a low, yellow tone, and the carpet was speckled white, sort of like sand. There was a small desk in the corner and a TV in front of the bed. There was another bed next ours where Gregor was asleep at. A huge window was at the end of the room, and the bathroom was just to the left of it. I walked to the window and looked out.

The night bathed everything in a purpleish gray color. I could still see out easily, my heightened dog eyes made sure of that, so it wasn't that much more than a change of color. The water pounded onto the beach slowly and gracefully, seeming to never end its continuous throw. The sand looked lovely, inviting. And on the beach stood a single figure.

He was standing, but he didn't seem like the Pokemon that should stand, his legs didn't look like they'd do the job, but it worked for him. He had one arm extended in front of him and I thought I heard him say something because I strained my ears to here what he was doing. Right after he said that, he pointed to right in front of him and suddenly a bottle appeared there. He picked it up, examining it.

Before I could strain my eyes enough to look at it closely, he was gone, and the bottle with him. I never even saw him leave! But I was almost completely sure that the figure was an Abra. Suddenly, my memory flipped back to when I'd arrived on the beach and a Abra aked me my name. It was him! It was Reo.

I really wanted to talk to him now that I was back to normal, but I guessed I would have to wait 'til morning. I didn't want any of my roommates to be mad at me. So I walked back to the bed and scrambled in on my side. I sighed as I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come. It didn't take as long as I thought.

"Get up, Celli!" Rachel said, shoving against my back.

"You told me to go to sleep." I answered and rolled away from her. What I forgot was that I was so big, that I barely fit on my side of the bed in the first place. "Ack!" I said as I fell to the floor. I landed with a SMACK! And rolled over so I could pick myself up. I lifted my head over the side to see two Pokemon there, laughing their butts off.

I blushed. "Umm…..oops, would you stop please?" I asked lowly, I wasn't even sure they heard me because they kept laughing.

"You fell off the bed!" Gregor cackled.

"Shut up!!" I roared and they finally started calming down.

"Sorry, Celli. That was just so darn funny!" Rachel said and pulled herself up.

"Ugh." I huffed. "Well, let's go meet with everyone else."

"That's what I was trying to tell you!" Rachel said, jumping up and down on the bed. "Reo found something! It's really cool. Come on!" She said and jumped off the bed, running for the door.

Soon, we were all in the lobby, everyone gathered around Reo. There were so many people and Pokemon around him that I couldn't see what was going on. I was about to shove my way through when I heard the conversation that was going on.

"What is it?" I heard someone say- Marius.

"I think it's a map, or maybe instructions even." That deep tone, I'd only heard it once but I knew it was Reo.

"Where could it lead to?" Timothy said, awed.

"I don't know, but this language….I've seen it before." Reo again.

"Do you think you could decipher it?" Marius.

"Possibly…but it may take awhile." Reo, concentrating very hard.

"Would you like some peace and quiet while you figure it out?" Marius asked kindly.

"If you don't mind…" Reo trailed off and broke through the crowd.

"Okay then, we'll come find you tonight. Will you be here?" Marius called to him.

"Yes, I will, and I'll have this thing fully translated by then, too."

"Awesome." Reo hurried on his way up the stairs and I watched him go. Our conversation would have to wait another day. I sighed.

Marius spoke up again. "Hey, guys, we need to go train for the gym! We'll talk to him later."

"Okay." I said and followed Marius, Timothy, Flame, Seth, Rain, Rachel, and Gregor out the door. The sun was shining brightly, making the beach look even more beautiful than it did last night. I paused to take it in. Off to the side of me some I heard someone.

"You want a battle?" Someone asked and I immediately ran back to my group. A man, clad in almost all black was walking up to Marius. Besides the black, he was wearing silver jewelry all over and he had a single earring in his left ear.

"I've never been one to turn one down." Marius said, grinning at him.

"Okay then. Three on three?" He asked.

"Sure. Timothy, come be the judge." Timothy walked up between them and they both moved about ten feet apart. "Celli, come over here." I ran over to Marius, completely happy to getto battle. "You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah." I said and ran out in front of him. I got into battle stance and waited for my foe to select his Pokemon.

"Go! Marshstomp!" I sighed as he threw the ball, he hadn't even bothered to name his Pokemon! What kind of crazed trainer does _that?_ I waited patiently for the light to disappear from around Marshstomp.

"Ready!" It said robotically.

"Let the battle begin!" Timothy said and I jumped for my opponent, sending fire to it. Marshstomp jumped aside easily and sent a stream of mud at me just as I landed on nothing more than the ground. I rolled out of the way and roared at it, causing it to freeze up for half a second. I took this time to make another jump at it, which ended with me crunching its arm.

As soon as I finished with the attack, causing a generous amount of damage, it sent a Water Gun at me that I didn't have enough time to dodge. It hit me square in the chest and I fell back a little, hugging my chest. Even after all these times of getting wet, water still hurt like heck!

Just as I collapsed, it sprayed a Mud Shot on me, which hurt almost as much as the Water Gun and made me slower than ever. I couldn't count on physical attacks now, I had to use my fire, that is, if I could get up. I pulled myself up, ignoring the pain of it.

"Ugh," I said, clenching my teeth together. I'd barely got up before I was drenched again. I fell to the ground in a heap.

"Celli! Get back!" Marius called me. I was only too happy to hear Timothy pause the battle so I could go back. "You did great, Celli." Marius said once I was with him, "But I don't want you to hurt yourself too bad so just watch the rest of the battle, okay?" I nodded. "Good, Rachel! Go!" He said and Rachel, confused that she was picked ran into the field. I saw her glance nervously at us. I gave a reassuring nod.

"Ready?" Timothy asked, both sides nodded. "Go!" He said and Rachel ran up to the Marshstomp, battle face on.

A/N: You guys get to find out what happens next time!! For now, how was it? Sorry if it was a little boring, but still. I hope you liked it! Please review! I know I haven't said this in awhile, but please send in OCs, I use them all, if you want them at a certain place, then go ahead and put that in as well. Thanks!

Combios: Moonlight now has a second chapter. Yay!!

Pika!


	37. Water Showdown

Chapter 37

A/N: Thank you to Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Lady of Darkfire, dragonboy, anon., Natasha Mikkle, black and white Kirby, Sailor Nibaru, RunningStorm, AuraLucario, poopfartbutts, and srgeman for reviewing. Thank you so much to all of you!! I hope you enjoy this chapter!! And can you believe this? It only took six chapters to get 100 reviews! Read on to see how Rachel's battle goes.

Chapter 37: Water Showdown

Rachel jumped for the Marshstomp, water spewing from her mouth. It was a direct hit and caused Marshstomp to stumble over backwards. Rachel took advantage of this and smacked her tail against the sides of his face. She jumped backwards then, ready in a defensive stance.

She seemed like a whole different person to me. This wasn't the Rachel I knew, this Rachel was violent, ready for anything. His stance showed as much. She was half-crouched, her narrowed eyes focused on her opponent, waiting for the strike. She seemed to be running on instinct, not thinking, just doing.

Finally, the attack came. Marshstomp flew at her, his tail glowing, but Rachel was ready. She jumped into the air just as the Iron Tail was about to hit and began spinning. She pulled herself inside her shell and started to spin faster and faster. Soon, all I could see was a brown and yellow blur.

Marshstomp stared at her as she spinned, confused as to what she was doing, and then, in the blink of an eye, he was on the ground. Rachel had run into him and she was comin back around for another hit. She wasn't spinning quite as fast now, but it was still effective. The Marshstomp didn't even have time to get up before he was knocked over again. And again. And again. And again. Finally, Rachel stopped and stood in her defensive stance again.

"Get up, Marshstomp!" The man in black yelled angrily to his Pokemon that was struggling on the ground.

"Yes, m-master," He said loosely pulling himself up. He tottered a little and then fell to the ground, fainted.

"You idiot!! That was a Squirtle for goodness sake!!" The man yelled and ran into the field. He kicked the Marshstomp in his side causing him to go flying off to the side of the field. I ran over to where he was falling without thinking. I ran faster than I ever had before, it was like time had slowed around me, and then, not even a second later, I stopped under him and he landed on my back.

I lowered myself to the ground, carefully, making sure he didn't fall off. I then rolled to my side slightly, letting him slide off my back. He gently landed in the sand and I examined him quickly. He seemed to be okay, beside the large bruise blossoming out from his chest. I flinched at that, but turned away from him, he needed to rest.

All of this happened in under five seconds, so the shock of the man in black kicking his Pokemon was still on every one's faces. Timothy hadn't even said anything to him yet, he was so surprised. Rachel had turned back into the Pokemon I knew and was staring at him closely. The man, on the other hand, was walking back to his place like nothing'd happened. I growled lowly at him, but he couldn't hear it.

"Well," he said once he was back on his side, "are we going to get his battle going or what?"

"You've been disqualified," Timothy said, almost back to normal.

"What!? How? The rules clearly state that the battle must continue until one person defeats the other person's Pokemon." H e said matter-of-factly, he even pulled out a trainer's guide from his bag and opened it to the page that said that. Timothy sighed, realizing that persuading him wasn't worth the effort.

"Fine," he said, "but I don't want to see behavior like that again." The man rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. "Choose your Pokemon." Rachel looked back to Marius, who nodded. She turned back around, turning into the extreme fighter I saw earlier.

"Even though you're water type, my Vibrava should have no problem defeating you!" He said and threw the pokeball. A green, dragonfly-like Pokemon popped out. It had a yellow body and green, insectlike wings on its back. Rachel wouldn't have a problem with this, it was ground-dragon after all. She must've known this because a smile flashed on her face when the Pokemon came out.

"Go!" Timothy said and Rachel stood up straight. Her eyes were closed, like she was concentrating. Vibrava didn't waste time thinking of what she was doing, she dove straight for her…and missed. She hit the ground instead, causing the sand to pick up into the air. She started rolling in the ground, kicking up sand all the while.

Suddenly, I figured out that she hadn't missed, she was right on target. She'd kicked up a huge dust cloud. I couldn't see what was going on now, and I was sure Rachel didn't have much of an idea either. That is, until I saw what she did.

The dust started moving in a circle, almost like a horizontal tornado. And then, as quickly as it started moving, it totally evaporated to reveal a gigantic blue beam shooting through it, destroying it. The beam seemed almost solid, and when the sun hit it, it was like a gigantic diamond with all the facets glimmering. I stared at it, wide-eyed, amazed by it.

Vibrava had been hit by the now disappearing Ice Beam, and was frozen in a chunk of ice, obviously fainted. I stared at the icy dragon-ground Pokemon, but then I was suddenly blinded by white light coming from Rachel's direction.

She was covered in white light and she was growing, fast. Soon, she was a little over two feet tall. Two small feathery appendages appeared on her ears and her tail grew longer, more pronounced. The light began to fade to reveal Rachel, but different. She was a Wartortle now. I marveled.

"Congrats, Rachel!" I yelled to her and she looked at me in confusion. I returned the look. "You're a Wartortle now." She looked at me with wide eyes and then examined herself.

"Wow…" She said as she looked at her curled tail. A smile covered her face. Then she realized the new power she held. She took a new stance, leaning in slightly with her palms open and out, as if ready to fire an attack or dodge a blow.

"Return, Vibrava," the man said, holding out his pokeball. The icicle of Pokemon disappeared inside of it. Suddenly the man snickered. "Piece of cake." He said, pulling out his last pokeball. "Go! Nidoking!"

In a blast from the pokeball, a gigantic Pokemon appeared in front of Rachel. It towered over her, making her seem like a bug in comparison. Rachel had just evolved, and now she was face to face with what would be the greatest challenge of her life so far.

"Rachel!" Marius called to her, "Get back!"

"No! I won't back down!" She answered him, disobeying his order.

"But, Rachel…" Marius started and she grunted.

"No." She said smoothly and then addressed Nidoking, "Give it your best shot," she growled, eyes narrowed.

"Go!" Timothy yelled and we waited for the battle to begin.

A/N: How was it? Now Rachel's going to face off with a Nidoking. Will she win and accomplish her hopes? Or will she lose, causing devastation to her own self. And what do you think of the man in black? And what about his Marshstomp? Review please! Find out next time!! The next chapter is going to be what no one expects.

Combios: Moonlight has 3 chapters!! No other replies.

Pika!


	38. Identity

A/N: Thank you to srgeman, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, RunningStorm, Lady of Darkfire, Auralucario, Natasha Mikkle, dark and white kirby, Sailor Nibaru, anon., and dragonboy. As you all probably know, FF was having some technical difficulties that cut off all forms of communication and making me not be able to update, so that's why this chapter is so late. In this chapter we get to see how Rachel does in her battle!! And the dark man's identity... Enjoy!

Chapter 38: Identity

Nidoking is a ground/normal type while Rachel is water. This battle should've been easy enough for her, if it wasn't for the fact that that Nidoking was about thirty levels higher than her. I knew that she'd known this, a spark of indecision flashed across her face quickly, but disappeared almost as fast as it appeared.

The battle was on.

Nidoking's horn began to spin and pick up speed as Rachel prepared an Ice Beam attack. Nidoking roared as he dived at Rachel, just as she loosed her Ice Beam. The Ice Beam did nothing more than slow Nidoking and Rachel was hit straight out.

She flew backwards and landed in a heap in the sand. "Ugh." She mumbled as she shook herself and got up from the sand. Nidoking laughed slightly and grinned at her. Bad idea. "Idiot!!" She yelled and shot out Water Guns, one after the other. Nidoking ran from one side of the field to the other, dodging the hits. Rachel growled in frustration.

Nidoking suddenly jumped into the air, his horn spinning, and rammed into the ground. Soon, he'd disappeared into the ground and Rachel'd gotten into her defensive stance. She flashed glances to every part of the field, calculating, waiting.

The man in black smiled and tapped his foot once, though no one'd seen it but me. Nidoking launched out of the ground directly underneath Rachel, forcing her through the air. She flew through the air, spinning uncontrollably. She pulled her body into herself and flipped backwards, landing smoothly on her feet.

She growled softly before running for Nidoking, shooting a continuous stream of water from her mouth. She closed her eyes in concentration and the water got stronger, more like pressurized water from a fire hose than anything, and it hit Nidoking full blast.

"Rawr!" Nidoking yelped, stumbling backwards a few steps. He crashed down onto the sand, screeching. Rachel's attack stopped and she readied another Ice Beam. Nidoking struggled up quickly, obviously shooken from the attack, but the Hydro Pump wouldn't be enough to get him out of the battle.

He jumped into the air again, horn spinning, and dove into the ground. Rachel fired her Ice Beam, just in time for it to miss the gigantic Pokemon. She looked around again, warily this time, and jumping around, not staying in the same place too long, she didn't want to get hit again.

Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She stopped jumping and turned to the ground, shooting water at it. She shot water all around the field, not leaving a single place dry. Once she started drenching the far corner of the field, a cry erupted from under the ground.

"Gahhhh!!" It yelped, and Nidoking shot up from the ground, gasping for breath. Now I understood Rachel's attack, she'd drenched the ground so that the water would reach under the ground and hurt Nidoking ten times as much than if she'd just hit him with a Water Gun!

"Good thinking!" Gregor yelled to her. He must've figured it out, too. She nodded, not taking her eyes off her opponent. Nidoking tried to get up, he gave it all he could, but he collapsed onto the sand.

"Drat!" The man in black yelled and recalled his Pokemon. Rachel looked amazed, her eyes huge.

"I…won…" She mumbled, as if in shock, "I won!!" She yelled. "I WON!"

"Wha- What?" I heard a voice grumble beside me. It was the Marshstomp!

"Are you okay?" I asked quickly, nudging him. His eyes flashed up to mine.

"Get away from me!" He shouted and jumped up, backing away from me. This attracted attention from every one else, including his trainer.

"I won't hurt you," I chided him carefully, making my tone sound sympathetic. He was about to say something when his trainer cut in.

"Marshstomp! You idiot." He growled, "You weren't worth raising. I don't want you anymore." Everyone stared at him, even Marshstomp. Tears started to well in the water Pokemon's eyes.

"Master…" he muttered, mostly to himself, it seemed, "Why?" He began shaking, almost on the verge of braking down.

"Why do you want to go with _him?_" I asked snarling my nose at his trainer.

"Y-You don't understand…" He said softly, his voice quavering. Marius spoke up over our concentration.

"How dare you disown your Pokemon!" He shouted at him, putting a threatening foot forward. "Why would you do that?"

The man in black shrugged. "He's worthless. Why should I keep him?" He said it like he didn't care in the least. He probably didn't either. He walked up to Marius, cash in hand. "Here, take your money. And you can take that miserable excuse for a Pokemon as well." He growled and put the money in Marius' hand. Marius looked taken aback.

"No, I don't want money from a brutal trainer like you." Marius spat and threw the money in his face.

"Fine, your choice." The other msn said and picked up his money. "Don't expect to win next time, though."

"Next time? There isn't going to be one." Marius said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, yes there is." He said and smiled. "I'm Brad by the way. Don't forget it." With that he turned and walked away. We all watched him go. Right before he got into the city, he took out a silver pokeball out of his bag and tossed it into the sand. He then stepped on it, crunching it to bits. He continued on his way. Seeing the pokeball struck a memory in my mind, but I wouldn't let it come up, my mind was too concentrated on anger.

Marshstomp suddenly stood bolt straight next to me. His eyes went wide and his mouth gaped before he fell to the ground, fainted. "What happened just then?" Timothy asked, scratching behind his head.

"I don't know." Marius said and shook his head, "But we need to get that Marshstomp healed as soon as possible."

"No problem, boss." Timothy said with a grin. "Go! Flame!" He said and threw Flame's pokeball. "Go get the Marshstomp, we need to bring him to the Pokemon Center."

"Sure." Flame said and ran over to the fallen Pokemon. He picked him up and waited patiently for Timothy.

"We'll take care of him. You guys better go train for the gym." Timothy said, back to his normal self.

"Okay then. Take care of him."

"Of course." Timothy said and walked into the town.

Marius sighed. "Come on, guys. Let's go to Granite Cave and train. Besides, I want to catch a Sabeleye." He smiled, though it seemed fake. He must've been trying to distract himself. I giggled slightly at that.

"Good idea, Marius." I said and smiled, running for the other side of the island. "Let's race there!" I yelled to everyone. They ran after me, laughing and giggling as they tried to catch up.

"Almost there!" Rain called, running up behind me.

"Yeah!" Rachel said, laughing. I laughed along with her.

A/N: So how was it? Sorry if it was a little boring at the end, I was trying to make it a little happier. Now for the craziness of Granite Cave!! This is going to be fun…

Combios: No replies…who'll write the twelfth story?

Pika!


	39. The Deal

Chapter 39: The Deal

A/N: Thank you to everyone for reviewing! A special thank you to ShiningCalvin for writing a combio story!! And another special thank you to poopfartbutts for the characters Marina and Mariner. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 39: The Deal

"Yeah! I got here first!" Rain said, dancing in front of the entrance to the cave. I laughed at her. She frowned. "You're just mad that YOU didn't win." She said matter-of-factly. I sighed.

"Nope, you're just hilarious when you do that little football celebration dance of yours." I smiled, she frowned again.

"Oh, who cares anyways." She mumbled, cross. I rolled my eyes, waiting for the everyone else to catch up. Soon, hey were with us.

"Yes! Time for Granite Cave." Gregor said optimistically.

"What's so good about Granite Cave?" Seth asked nonchalantly.

"Everything! I loved the little hidden bike trails back when I played the games…" Seth gave him a curious look, "I mean, how many secrets you think could be hiding in there? Thousands!" He said enthusiastically, Seth nodded slowly, not quite buying it.

"Well, are we going in or not?" I interrupted, starting to walk to the entrance.

"We're coming!" Rachel said, rushing up behind me. I allowed Marius to walk in front of me and followed him into the brightly lit cavern.

The place was huge!! I'm not kidding, it really was. The place seemed to be carved out, and the walls didn't seem as natural as they should have been, but I let it pass. High above us, I thought I saw a couple trainers walking on a path, but I wasn't sure. Several Pokemon were playing around in the sand, but not too many, the rest were probably in the back of the cave, where it was darker. A man, clothed in a hiker's uniform was standing in front of us.

"Hello and welcome to Granite Cave! Would you like to buy the HM Flash from me so you can see in the dark?" He said, pulling out a white disc. Marius looked at each of us and frowned.

"No thanks." He said and walked past him.

"Are you sure?" The man asked, shoving the disc in his face.

"Yes." He said, "Quite." And shoved it right back to the man. The hiker just shrugged his shoulders and went back to looking for other people to sell to. We continued on to the other side of the cave. There was a ladder there, and at the bottom was complete and total darkness. I hesitated.

"Umm…we're not going down there, are we?" I asked softly.

"What are you? Scared?" Seth mocked, hopping down the ladder first. Marius went down after him, followed by everyone else. I walked over to the hole and looked over carefully before jumping down into the pit. I froze as I looked into the darkness. This wasn't like the light of the moon last night, this was complete darkness!

"I've got a flashlight, don't--" But he was cut off.

"It's so dark! Why did you take me down here? And it's SO sandy!" A female voice complained.

"Calm down, Marina, we're almost out." A male voice answered, though his tone proved the sentence to be a lie. Marius whipped out the flashlight and pointed it in the direction of the voices.

Two Krabby were standing there, one with its claw over its eyes, the other in a defensive position with both claws opened and threatening. That one growled at us.

"What do you want?" He said, it was the male voice from before!

"Nothing," Gregor said, flying up to him. '_Careful._' I thought, but didn't say it, it might've made the Krabby angry.

"Really? Why don't I believe you?" He said with disgust.

"Relax, man, we're good." Gregor said and landed. He held out his wing to the Krabby to show it. The Krabby gave a suspicious look and the Krabby behind him, Marina, touched his back softly. He held out his claw and shook Gregor's wing. "You see?" Gregor said. "Now, then, you said you were lost?"

"Don't test me. I've been through more than you could ever imagine." He growled.

"Look, dude, it's cool. No problems here. Now, are you lost or not?" Gregor said, somehow managing to continue playing it cool.

"Yes, we're lost." He said.

"Okay then, now, what's your name? I'm Gregor." Gregor said, smiling.

The Krabby looked back at his mate, as if for approvement. Marina nodded. "I'm Mariner." He said. Gregor nodded.

"Come on, then, the exit's right over here!" Gregor said and jumped, flying for the ladder. Marius followed him with his flashlight. The two Krabby ran over to the ladder and began climbing up. Soon they were at the top. Our group followed them up, I was grateful to get out of the dark, not that I'd tell them or anything…

"So, can we help you with anything else?" Marius asked them once we were out of the dark hole.

"No, we're good. Goodbye." Mariner said, but he rushed the words, making them come out as one.

"Well, you know, Mariner, I think we can trust them." Marina said softly.

"What!? Are you crazy?" Mariner said, throwing his claws into the air.

"No, I think they should know." Marina said, trying to calm him down. "You see," she turned to us, "we're not actually from around here. We're from Kanto." She started and I sat down, ready to hear her tale. The others did as well.

**At Team Blaster's HQ…**

Lauren had been locked in a cage, a cage made of diamonds. They said they'd put her in there so that there was no way to get out, no matter what she did. This angered her greatly and she tried to get out, though she knew she couldn't. Her electric and water attacks just weren't enough to brake through the wall. Finally, though, she'd quit and accepted her fate as prisoner.

Three times a day, food was brought to her and slid under the door. And every meal was the same, green mush. She put off eating it for awhile, but finally gave in. The mush turned out to be just as nasty as it looked. She almost threw up on the first bite, but still managed to eat it, she was hungry after all.

A few days later, the door to her cage slid open. She had to resist the urge to kill whoever came in, even though it was the man she wanted to kill. Keith smiled at her, his forked tail swishing from side to side.

"Are you enjoying your new life _Admin_ Lauren?" He mocked, cracking a smile. Lauren growled at him, her Jolteon spikes shot up, but she didn't shoot them at him. '_If you kill him, you'll be just as bad as he is,'_ she told herself, shaking her head. She took care to lower the spikes. "Hm, so you're not going to kill me? I'm not sure if that's smart or stupid." Keith laughed.

"I don't like it here." Lauren said simply, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. It didn't work though.

"What a surprise." Keith said, rolling his eyes. "To think, I was once in your situation, and now, look at me! I'm the first combiomorph leader in Team Blasters history! And you, my dear, could be the second." He smiled. Lauren growled, slapping her Vaporeon tail against the ground.

"NOT gonna happen." She said.

"I figured you'd say that." Keith said, "But I'm offering you a deal. If you agree to study under my guidance and do as I tell you until you become leader in my place, then you'll never have to spend another day down in this dump, and, once you're leader, you can run the organization in any way you want." Lauren's eyes lit up at this. Anyway she wanted…

"Deal." She said and held out her hand. He took it and they shook hands. Keith smiled. _'Exactly as planned.'_ He thought and led her out of the prison room.

A/N: Before you ask, yes you will get to hear Marina's and Mariner's story next chapter. And it's not what anyone expects!! What do you think about Lauren now? Bad choice? We'll only have to see…

Combios: Who am I? by ShiningCalvin. Thanks so much for writing the twelfth combio story! Awesome!!

Pika!


	40. Awkward

A/N: Thank you to Lady of Darkfire, ClinicallyInsaneandDangerous, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, pkmnmaster-david, poopfartbutts, Thrushflight, anon

A/N: Thank you to Lady of Darkfire, ClinicallyInsaneandDangerous, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, pkmnmaster-david, poopfartbutts, Thrushflight, anon., dragonboy, srgeman, Twilight reaper 57, and Sailor Nibaru for reviewing! Thanks so much, Enjoy!

Chapter 40: Awkward

"Well, actually, it only happened a few nights ago-" She was cut off by Mariner slapping his pincer into her face. She moved it from her face and gave him an angry look. "What was that for?" She asked, surprised.

"Allow me, it would be quicker." He said and stepped away from the group.

"What are you doing…?" And then her eyes went wide. "No! Don't! We don't know if-"

"If they were, then we would've known by now. I think it's safe." He said, holding up a claw. I gave him a curious look, but waited anyway.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"I am." He said and his body began to glow white. He grew taller until he was just over five feet tall. He had bright blonde hair and deep, blue eyes. He was built like a young teenager, but I couldn't be sure. Out of his hair, two pink ears appeared and his skin became covered in pink fur. His right arm remained a pincer while his left arm grew three digits, all covered in pink fur. A tail came out behind him, it was thin, long and pink. He had on a T-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. They must have been new some time ago, but now they looked old and worn. But I wasn't interested I the clothes, I was interested in what he was.

"You're a combiomorph!?" I cried. My memories flashed back to Sara, my loving caretaker whenever I had no memories. A strange sadness rumbled through me for her, but only briefly, there were other things to focus on now.

"Yes, I am." The boy said as he picked up Marina in his paw, almost protectively it seemed.

"Wow, so you escaped from Team Blasters, right? How?" Gregor asked, immediately interested.

"Well, I was one of the first experiments. They trained me harshly and it wasn't long before I was the ultimate superweapon. They taught me how to spy and how to do a quick kill, and knowing nothing but that world, I obeyed. You see, I have no memory of my life beforehand, just what happened after, and I saw Team Blasters as my only family, and that's how it was for awhile. Until one day, I spied on my own Team and learned something that couldn't be told to anyone, I still won't repeat what I heard. So I ran away on the same day and they knew that I knew one of their best kept secrets, so they hunted me, but I managed to obey. I took the form of a Krabby to seem less significant to them, but nothing seemed to work.

"But then I met Marina and her family and I fell in love as soon as I saw her." He said and brushed her back. She looked up at him lovingly. "When Team Blasters came looking for me then, the last thing I wanted to do was endanger my family, so we ran, all of us. We both evaded them, but her family…that's another story. Anyways, now we're out recruiting Pokemon for an all-out war against Team Blasters. A war that will free all combiomorphs, a war that will win us our lives back, a war that will change history!!" He shouted, throwing his fist into the air. "Will you join us?" He asked.

Marius looked shocked. We'd just listened to his life story, in short, we knew basically nothing about him, and now he was asking us if we wanted to fight in a war! Of course he'd be shocked! "I don't know." Marius managed to get out.

"What? Why not? Don't you want to defeat Team Blasters?" Mariner chided him, his pink tail striking the ground.

"Well, yes, but you see, I don't exactly know you. If you know what I mean. Maybe if I knew you better, then I would say 'yes' but for now…" Marius said, trying to explain, but not doing too well.

"What!? You won't help us because you don't know us too well!?" Mariner cried, a blue aura surrounding him. He began to float up just a little bit.

"Umm…maybe you could stay with us awhile? Then we might be able to figure something out." Marius offered.

"No, there's no time for that now. We have to go find more people to recruit, but we'll remember you and come find you in a week for your final answer. Is that okay?" He asked, obviously angry that we wouldn't help him now.

"Yes, that's good. I figure we'll be in Slateport by then." Marius said, pointing across the ocean.

"Fine. Goodbye." Mariner said and zoomed out of the cave quickly, holding Marina tightly in his paw. They were out of the entrance of the cave in an instant. We ran out and watched as he disappeared into the horizon at the speed only a Mew could achieve. He was heading in the direction of Slateport so I guessed he was off to draft people into the war there.

"Wow…" I muttered.

"That was odd." Rachel said, stating the obvious.

"Wasn't it though?" Seth replied, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, guys, it's almost sunset, let's go check up on Timothy and that Marshstomp." Marius said, shaking his head as he walked out of the cave. I walked closely beside him, comforting him.

"It's all so confusing, isn't it?" I asked.

"You have no idea." He said, shaking his head again.

"Maybe the rest of today will be nice and calm." I offered.

"Yeah, maybe." He said without the slightest bit of hope. When was a day ever normal for us? Never.

It took hardly any time at all to make it to the Pokemon Center. And when we did make it, we found Timothy sitting in the waiting room, totally depressed looking. I ran up beside him.

"What's wrong?" I asked. His answer was simple.

"Everything. They can't get a single response out of him." He said, holding back a sob. "He's still alive though, but it's like he's in a coma or something. They aren't sure."

"Really?" I said, not very enthusiastically. "Can we go back and see him?"

"Yes, but I don't want to. You guys can, though, if you'd like." He said, pointing to a door directly in front of him.

"Should we?" I asked the group behind me.

"Yes, I think we should." Marius answered.

"Um, I don't really want to." Rain said, taking a step back. "I'm not that good with sick people."

"I just don't feel like it," Seth said coolly, joining Rain.

"Well, okay then," I said, "We'll be back soon. Stay with Timothy."

"No problem." Seth mumbled and jumped up on the chair beside Timothy's. The rest of us started walking towards the door. Marius opened it and we walked down the long, white hallway. On each door, the species of a Pokemon was labeled, along with its gender and name, if it had one. We continued walking until we found one that read:

**Species: Marshstomp  
Name: ?  
Gender: Male  
Condition: Critical**

Marius reached out for the doorknob and turned it slowly.

A/N: Hm, we get to check on the Marshstomp next chapter!! That's going to be fun, I have a lot in mind for that. Anyways, what do you guys think about Marina and Mariner now? I actually wrote there story, but it ended up being 16 pages, so I decided not to post it as a chapter, it was just too long. So I'm thinking of posting it as a one-shot instead. What do you guys think?

Combios: Who am I? now has two chapters and Thrushflight has put up 'A Legendary Disaster' and it, too, has two chapters. No other replies.

Pika!


	41. Interpretation

Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw in that room

A/N: Hmm…the Internet went out awhile ago and I just now got it back, so, obviously, I updated as soon as it was possible. Just in case it goes out again. sigh stupid hurricanes…

Thank you to srgeman, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, ClinicallyInsaneandDangerous, Sailor Nibaru, Lady of Darkfire, dynamite dude, poopfartbutts, anon., dragonboy, and ShiningCalvin for reviewing. Special thank you to ShiningCalvin for review 350!! Thanks SO much!! Please review so we can see who'll give the 400th review!! Enjoy!

Chapter 41: Interpretation

"Um, on second thought, I think I want to go wait with Timothy and the rest of them." Rachel said sheepishly.

"Er, yeah, I'm going, too." Gregor said and the two of them walked back to the waiting room, going unnecessarily fast.

"Well, okay then. We'll meet you there." Marius said, clueless has to why they left. He shrugged it off and turned back to the door.

Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw in that room. Marshstomp was lying on the bed, unmoving, mouth gaping open. His eyes were opened wide, and they were spinning in huge circles. His breathing was scattered, inconstant, and the machine made a frantic beeping sound every once in awhile when his breathing slowed. His heart was going a mile a minute, the spikes being drawn by the machine were sharply pointed and filled with falters. There was an oxygen mask over his face and as we got closer, I thought I heard him mumble something, but it was unintelligible. Besides, how could he say something? Even though his eyes were open, it was obvious he was deep in sleep.

What had that man done to him!? Surely just crushing his poke ball wouldn't have done that. Then I remembered. That poke ball, it was silver, like Marius's! Maybe they were special, maybe they could cause things like this to happen to their occupants, I still thought it was a little farfetched, but it was definitely an idea. I put it to the back of my mind for the moment, for now I wanted to see if I could get a response from him.

I sat down by the table, my head peeking over the side, Marius stood beside me and set his hand on his. We'd only just met him, and he already seemed to be a part of our family. Some bonds can be made instantly, it seemed, for I, too, felt bad for him.

I allowed my mane to flow onto the bed, covering some of his body. He suddenly groaned and I pulled my mane immediately off of him. He twisted away from it. I realized that my mane was probably too hot and I sighed, pulling it all the way off the bed. Well, at least he responded, it'd be nice if it wasn't out of uncomfort, though. He mumbled something again and I leaned in close so I could hear. His voice was very soft, my ears could just barely make out his words.

"Jenifer." He said and I looked on in confusion. The machine began beeping loudly and uncontrollably as he rolled on the bed, smacking into the sides of it. He screeched and I backed up a bit. Marius did too. The door behind us was forced open and two nurses and a doctor ran in, another nurse was just outside of the door and she beckoned to us.

"If you don't mind, would you please go wait in the waiting room?" She asked, slightly rushed in her speech.

"No problem." Marius said and walked into the hallway, I followed.

"Thank you." The nurse said and walked into the room, leaving the door open incase they needed to get something. We walked back through the hallway, down to the door that led to the waiting room. Once we were through, we found that Seth was still asleep and Rain was talking with Rachel. She had something in her hands and was examining it, I couldn't tell what it was from this distance. Timothy was reading a magazine, he twitched every once in awhile as if being overly alert. Gregor wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Hi! We're back! Where's Gregor?" Marius asked, scanning the group.

"Oh, he went out to, well, take care of some business." Timothy looked embarrassed and his face flushed. Then it hit me.

"Ohhh, _that _kind of business." I said with a short laugh. He nodded.

"So how was he?" He asked grimly, setting his magazine on the table beside him.

"Not good." Marius said simply, not meeting Timothy's eyes.

"Oh." Timothy said, his voice giving away his emotions. He sounded downhearted, almost like he was giving up.

"It'll be alright, come on, let's get back to the hotel. Besides, don't you want to find out what that letter Reo found said?" Marius offered, taking on a lighter tone. "And our gym battle is tomorrow." Timothy gave a quick look to the door and then focused back on Marius and began to get up.

"Yeah. Come on." Timothy said and turned away from us, he began walking for the door that slid open when he reached it. "Well are you coming or not?" He asked, slightly angrily.

"We're coming." Marius said and led us outside. As soon as we were out the door, Gregor came flying out of some bushes looking relieved. I rolled my eyes as he flew up beside me.

"Where're we going?" He asked me.

"To the hotel. We're going to see what Reo figured out from the paper." I said and he nodded, flying above us and zooming to the hotel ahead of us. I rolled my eyes again at him and ran to catch up, passing Marius quickly.

It wasn't long before we were all gathered in the hotel, Reo in the middle of us all. This time I could actually see him because I'd gotten here so quickly. Rachel was sitting on my back, leaning over my head. The Abra was standing on the floor, the letter in hand.

"Well, this is really a personal letter from a good friend of mine." He said and we all went wide-eyed.

"But it's ancient!" Seth protested.

"No it's not, its just been crumpled and dunked in coffee, to make it look ancient." He smiled at his own smartness.

"Well, what does it say?" I put in.

"It was written in a secret code, that only the closest of my friends know. I can't tell you _who _it's from, because there's no name and it's hard to tell from handwriting style whenever thelanguage consists of dots and lines." He said, and put a little laugh at the end.

"Okay, okay, so what doe it say?" Gregor said, hovering to the right of him.

"This is what it said:

'I have ran into some trouble, Reo, and I'd like to ask you one favor. Please tell this message to everyone you meet: I am compiling an army, any and all Pokemon should sign up for it as soldiers. This will be the largest rebellion ever, and it'll be against the one thing I'm sure all Pokemon hate- Team Blasters. Please send everyone you gather to Lilycove City, where we will train and prepare for the attack. All Pokemon who will participate should be there within three months. Oh, and please get what few combiomorphs who have escaped to be there too.

Thanks so much,

A friend'"

"Mariner." Marius said at once and we all turned to him. "It's from him." He said and pointed to the paper.

"How did you know that?" Reo asked, curious.

"We met him today, down at Granite cave. He seemed rather eccentric, really." He said, staring of into space. Reo sighed.

"I figured as much, he got hurt pretty bad last night. His and my psychic powers combined barely saved him." Reo said and we all looked shocked.

"You-you mean-" but I was cut off by him.

"Yes, he flew in last night, just so he could get the message to me, but then he crashed, because he'd fainted in mid-air. I always told him not to fly like that…" He considered and then got back to what he was saying. "Once he was healed, he told me to recruit Kyogre, and to find people to help me do that. The rest you don't need to know."

"So you want us to help you recruit the _legendary _Kyogre?" I scoffed, disbelieving.

"Well, that's not really what I said, but, yes." Reo sure looked like he was serious, but still, Kyogre! Of all things…

"We'll help you." Marius said and I looked at him, surprised. He noticed my look. "Think about it, Celli, I think we should join the rebellion, we are against Team Blasters after all."

"True." I said after a seemingly endless silence. "But could we seriously defeat Kyogre? Or subdue him enough to reason with him?"

"Who said we had to fight? That happens to be a _ very _small chance." Reo said and I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "You'll see." He said with a laugh. "We'll set out after your gym battle tomorrow." He was addressing Marius now.

"Okay, good night everyone!" We all exchanged good nights and headed up to our rooms. Tomorrow we would be fighting Kyogre. And fighting Brawly, too. It was going to be some kind of hectic day tomorrow, but I didn't even know the half of it.

A/N: Yes! I get to write a super dramatic chapter here in just a short while! Well, anyway, what do you think of the chapter? Oh, and I'm going to post the one-shot soon, now that I'm sure there's no spoilers in it. Review, please!!

Combios: No updates, no replies, no news.

Pika!


	42. A Tranquil Battle

Chapter 42

A/N: Thank you to srgeman, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, ShadowBlueShane (special thank you), RunningStorm, anon., poopfartbutts, Lady of Darkfire, dragonboy, Sailor Nibaru, and Jackie for reviewing. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter just as much!! And now…..(drum roll)….their second gym battle!! And its only been 41 chapters!!

Chapter 42: A Tranquil Battle

The sunlight streamed into the windows, through the blinds. They made scattered, bright lines on the floor close to me and I opened my eyes drowsily. Half-awake, I stumbled out of the bed, shaking the whole bed in the process. Rachel stirred as a result of the shaking.

"Hello." She mumbled as she, too, got up from the bed. I nodded and walked to the bathroom, following some long forgotten instinct to freshen up for the day. I stood on my hind legs and set my front paws on the sink. I smiled into the mirror and the image smiled back at me, only the toothy grinned looked dangerous, violent. I shuddered at my own reflection and dropped back down on my four feet.

I stumbled back into the main part of the room to find that Rachel had waken up Gregor and that they were talking about strategies to defeat Brawly.

"He uses fighting-type Pokemon and they are weak to Psychic, Poison, and Flying." Rachel said.

"They're weak to Bug-type attacks, too. Don't forget that." Gregor said with a laugh.

"Yeah, so we should be able to beat him pretty easily." Rachel said, a smile brightening her face, "If you go first." She said and nudged him in the side. He smiled sheepishly.

"We'll just have to see." He said, smirking.

"Er, sorry to interrupt, but we need to get downstairs." I said with a laugh. The other two both whirled to look at me in surprise.

"Oh, er, yeah, come on." Gregor said and launched into the air, his wings flailing around haphazardly. Rachel jumped up to and hit the ground running. We zoomed out the door and down the stairs to see Marius sitting in a chair in the lobby. Rain and Seth were talking next to him in hushed tones.

"There you are!" Marius said gladly, getting up from his seat. "Come on, the gym opens in ten minutes." He walked up to us and stroked my back. "This battle should be easy, Brawly's not exactly very strong." He laughed and then turned for the door. We followed him out of the lobby. The gym was almost right across from the hotel, so it was easy enough to get there. There was a man out front of it, he was about medium, slightly on the large side and he was wearing a sailor suit. He had a gray beard and his white hair was streaked with gray. All in all, he was simply ugly, at least to me anyway.

"How can I help you?" The guy asked, half-bowing. "I'm Brawly, the owner of this fine establishment." He said and spread his hands at the building proudly.

"We were wondering if we could have a battle, actually." Marius said, approaching him slowly.

"Good, good. Now come-" but he was cut off by someone yelling behind us.

"Wait for ME!!" A young, male voice cried. I turned to see that it was Timothy, and as soon as I did, he promptly face planted into the sand. He pulled himself up. "You're not going to have a battle without ME watching, are you?" He finally caught up and put his hands on his knees, panting.

"No, of course not!" Marius said, shying away from him.

"Well, that's what it seemed like." He said after several gasps of breath.

"Sorry."

"Do you want a battle, too?" Brawly asked.

"Nah, no thanks, I'd rather watch." Timothy said, regaining his composure.

"Alright then, come on, let's battle." Brawly said to Marius as he held the door open for us. The room was beautiful. There were trees surrounding the walls and the floor was marble. A fountain was running in the middle of the room and a few bamboo shoots struck up from the ground around the corners. There was a table at the far end of the room made entirely from bamboo. The place gave an instant calming affect, it was very tranquil there. "This way." Brawly said and pointed to a passageway in the back, right of the room. He went to the other side where there was another passageway. He showed Timothy the passageway for observers and we all went to our respective places.

Soon, we were in a huge, sand covered arena. There were platforms on either side, one red and one white. We climbed up onto the white platform and it began to rise into the air. I looked out over the side as the little grains of sand got smaller and smaller. Timothy was sitting in one of the bleachers lining the sides of the arena. I heard a mechanical sound and turned to see that Brawly's platform was going up as well. They both locked in place once we were about 10 feet off the ground.

"Don't think this is going to be easy." Brawly called to us.

"I don't expect it to be." Marius said slyly. A little boy ran out in front of the bleachers beneath us.

"This will be a two on two battle. The challenger can switch Pokemon while the gym leader cannot, if the challenger wins, they will receive the gym badge, if they lose, they cannot rechallenge for two days. The gym leader sends out his Pokemon first. May the battle begin!" The boy said and dropped his outstretched arms to his sides.

"Go! Machop!" Brawly said and threw the poke ball onto the field. A Machop appeared out of a flash of red.

"Ready!" It said, holding his arms defensively.

"Alright, Gregor, get down there." Marius ordered and he flew off the platform, gracefully flying through the air until he touched the ground.

"Let's make this a good battle." The Machop said.

"No problem." Gregor answered and flew up from the ground, his beak glowing white. He dove at the Machop who quickly jumped away causing Gregor to plummet into the ground. He crashed and began to get up just as Machop ran up to him and sliced at him with his hand in a Karate Chop. The move landed and caused a bruise to swell up on his back. He pulled himself up from the sand and flew back into the air, out of Machop's reach.

Gregor seemed to suddenly disappear. He appeared for brief moments, but never for very long. This confused Machop and it ran to the place where Gregor appeared for a moment, and then had to turn around again every time Gregor reappeared. Gregor suddenly dove out of the air, hitting Machop straight in the chest with his beak. Machop flew backwards and crashed into the wall, fainting on contact. His little body fell to the ground after making an indention in the wall, unmoving.

"The gym leader's Pokemon is unconscious. He has one Pokemon left. Please choose that Pokemon and the battle may begin!" The judge said and waited.

Brawly returned him as Gregor returned to his place. He was smirking proudly and Marius congratulated him.

"You think you can take the next Pokemon?" Marius asked him. Gregor turned to face him, still hovering in the air.

"Why wouldn't I be able to?" He asked, his voice dripping with cockiness.

"Okay then. Good luck with his next Pokemon." Marius answered and Gregor turned back to the field.

"Piece of cake." He mumbled and Brawly threw another pokeball.

"Go! Makuhita!" He said and a small, brown colored Pokemon appeared out of the light. It looked almost like a punching bag, actually, which was exactly what Gregor would treat it like.

"Hiya!" It called and thrust its arm in front of its body.

"Hm…" Gregor sighed as he analyzed the Pokemon, looking for weak points. "I've got you now." He said, focusing on Makuhita's chest and smirking.

"Wait for him to get close." Brawly advised his Pokemon who nodded in response, arms held out protectively. Gregor circled the small Pokemon, making fake dives to confuse him. Then his wings began to glow and he dashed into him. Just as he was about to it, Makuhita put both his fists together and screeched out his native cry. A dark red blast of light shot out of his hands, engulfing Gregor. Gregor yelped out in pain and he fell to the sand. The light quickly diminished to show Gregor panting on the ground, loosely using his wings to pull himself back up.

"No!" He cried and collapsed to the sand, fainted.

"The challenger's Pokemon has been defeated. This is now a one on one match. Please choose your next Pokemon and the battle may begin!" The judge said, practically repeating what he said before. I sighed.

"Darn." Marius said, "I don't have a pokeball to return him and we're really high up. Celli, do you think you could jump all the way back up her with Gregor on your back?" He asked and turned to me.

"I don't know. I guess so." Arcanine were known for their jumping ability after all. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard. I stood up to the railing, climbed over it and jumped.

A/N: So………how was it? Sorry if it started boring, but I hope it was pretty good by the end. Can any of you guess what attack Makuhita used? Just out of curiosity. Please review everybody! Thank you!!

Combios: Who am I? has been updated with a chapter three. And combiomorphs have been featured in Felix the Eeveetrainer's Tales of the Blades has them featured in chapter 8 of the story called Sorrow. I encourage you all to read both the stories. Until next time…

Pika!


	43. Instincts

I landed easily on the ground, front feet first

A/N: Thank you to ClinicallyInsaneandDangerous, Lady of Darkfire, srgeman, Secera, TheGreatAmazingWriter, and Lightning-Alchemist-Rini for reviewing. Thanks so much, all of you! Let's see if we can make it up to 400 reviews by Chapter 45…Enjoy!!

Chapter 43: Instincts

I landed easily on the ground, front feet first. Gregor was lying in the middle of the arena so I ran out toward him but my feet froze whenever I heard the judge start talking again.

"The challenger has chosen his Pokemon!" He yelled out. "Begin!"

"W-Wait!" Marius yelled to him, but Makuhita was already charging for me, his fist glowing.

"Stop!" I yelled. Dashing past him, trying to get Gregor out of the crossfire. But Makuhita just changed direction, the glow around his fist becoming ever stronger. I leaned down to pick up Gregor in my piece when I suddenly felt myself flying through the air, headed straight for a wall. Pain caressed my side where he punched me, causing me to cringe in mid-air. I tried to keep my concentration and spin in the air so I could land on my four feet. I hit the ground hard, flailing to the side, but I caught my balance.

For a moment, anger blurred my vision. '_How DARE he!! My friend's going to get hurt!_' I screeched in my mind and I felt fire crawling up my throat, threatening to shoot out in a fiery blitz. I lost control of my emotions and rushed at Makuhita, pinning him where he stood.

"Idiot!" I yelled and allowed the volcano inside me to explode all over him. Flares of fire surrounded him and he screamed loudly, trying to escape my grasp. I dug my claws into his arm to hold him still as I felt reason leaving my mind. Something more wild, more uncivilized than a cannibal took its place and I was no longer in control. What I was seeing became a sort of movie that I couldn't change in any way at all. That's what happens when instincts take over you and it really is a scary experience.

"Celli! Stop!" I heard someone scream, but I couldn't stop, I wasn't able to. I watched as my great jaws opened up to reveal teeth that looked more pointed and savage than they ever had before. Saliva ran down from them and smacked Makuhita in the face. He screeched again and struggled to get away, but I tore my claws into his arms.

"Stop her!" The same voice yelled and I heard something plopping to the ground. I tore my attention from Makuhita and looked around for the source of the noise. A blue, turtle-like thing was standing not far from me, tensed. No recognition passed through my mind, just hatred. I jumped off of Makuita and growled at the turtle.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly, putting one giant paw forward and growling.

"Celli! You don't know what you're doing!" It answered, but the voice sounded very girl-like, I'll just say 'she.'

"Oh, yes I do, and you're interrupting it." I growled.

"No, you don't! Don't you know who I am? Don't you remember how long we've been friends? I wouldn't lie to you." She said, using her hands. I analyzed her for a moment, looking for a familiar quality, but found nothing. My thinking was beginning to clear up, but slowly, I still couldn't think right.

"No, I don't _think _I know you." I said carefully, sniffing the air for her scent.

"It's me, Rachel!" She said, pointing to herself.

"Rachel?" I asked, walking up to her. She tensed, but nodded anyway. I lowered my head and looked straight into her eyes, she flinched slightly but held my gaze.

"Yes." She said and the voice was suddenly familiar. This wasn't some random Pokemon, this was the person I'd been friends with since kindergarten, the one who ended up in the game with me. My expression quickly softened and I sat down calmly, tongue lolling.

"Rachel." I said calmly all the way back in my right mind.

"Celli!" She cried and jumped up, encircling her arms around my neck. "You're normal again!"

"Yep! I am. But the battle's not over yet, you better get back up there." I told her, pointing my nose up to the platform and then to the stairs leading up to it. "You think you can take Gregor too?" I asked looking at his barely moving body. He seemed to be about to wake up.

"Sure, no problem." She said and pranced over to Gregor, lifting him into her arms. She scrunched her face trying to lift him and slowly made her way over to the stairs. Once she had hobbled all the way up, the judge spoke up.

"Is everything….under control now?" He asked his voice cracking.

"Yes." I said and Marius said the same word. He nodded slowly and then faced Brawley.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yes, Makuhita's fine. I gave him a Super Potion." He said, holding up a smallish bottle that was colored purple.

"Hiya!" The little fighting Pokemon called out, showing that he was ready.

"Okay then." The judge said. "Go!"

Now in control of myself, the battle was more than easy. Makuhita took the first attack (always a bad move) and charged me. I jumped up right before he hit me and shot fire straight down, covering him. He launched out of the fire, grimacing in pain, and dove for me- I'd landed on the ground soon after the Flamethrower- with his fist glowing. I jumped into the air again and fell on top of him in a Body Slam. He gasped at the incredible weight and I rolled off of him.

Makuhita got up slowly, taking deep breaths. He slowly rose his arms up to arm level before dropping them to his sides and falling face-first into the sand. "Agh." He said and fainted.

"The gym leader is out of Pokemon. The Challenger wins!" The judge called out and Marius thrust his fist into the air.

"Good job, Celli! You won us the Knuckle Badge!!" Marius yelled, jumping up and down in the platform. I smiled in response and the others joined him in his little victory dance. Brawly returned Makuhita and pressed a button on his platform. Both of the giant machines began going earthward. CRACK! Both platforms pushed onto the ground at the same time. Marius and the others walked down, Gregor- who'd woken up- flew weakly behind them, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Eheheheh." He laughed half-heartedly ant my accusing expression. I just rolled my eyes.

We walked to the center of the arena where Brawly met us. He had something shiny in his hand. "This," he said, pointing to it, "is the Knuckle Badge. All Pokemon under level 30 will obey you and you can use the HM Flash outside of battle. Which is very useful if you want to explore our very own Granite Cave." He was starting to sound like an advertisement now…"Anyway, congratulations! Enjoy the rest of your stay in Dewford!" He said and began steering us back to the hallways. He left us in front of the Challenger one as he went back down the Gym Leader one. We shrugged our shoulders and walked down the hallway.

We were, once again, in the lobby. Brawly was sitting at his desk, hurriedly filling out papers. He gave us a slight wave and pointed for the door. I thought he muttered something like, "No time," or some such but I'm not sure.

Outside, Timothy was waiting to congratulate us. "You guys were awesome!" He shouted, dancing in a circle.

"I know, I know. We get it." Marius mumbled.

"Eh?" Timothy said and then stopped jumping around.

"Come on, let's get to the Pokemon Center and get Gregor and Celli fully healed. Besides, I want to see how Marshstomp's doing." He said. '_And maybe, if he's awake, I can find out more about this Jennifer person.'_ I added in my mind. I was about to say something when someone screamed.

"HEY!!" The voice yelled out. "Come quick! It's an emergency!!" A brown Psychic Pokemon ran up to us. Reo!

"What's wrong?" I asked him. He panted for a second before speaking.

"I saw…I saw." Reo said, pointing to the sky.

"What? What did you see!?" Seth asked, almost jumping him.

"I don't know what it was, but it was flying and it was falling fast. It was black in color and that was all I could tell." I looked over at Rachel quickly.

"You don't think…" I asked her.

"But it couldn't be!" She retorted.

"What are you two talking about?" Rain butted in.

"A-" BOOM! A huge explosion rocked the island, sending them all flying into the air.

A/N: What is it? Can anyone guess? Even though it's probably obvious…Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter. Celli lost control of her emotions AND something blew up, is that a little much or is it okay…? Review please!!

Combios: No nothing.

Pika!


	44. Assignment

A/N: Thank you to anon

A/N: Thank you to anon., Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Lady of Darkfire, Sailor Nibaru, TheGreatAmazingWriter, ShiningCalvin, srgeman, ClincallyInsaneAndDangerous, and poopfartbutts for reviewing. It means a lot to me!! Enjoy the chapter, everyone!

Chapter 44: Assignment

For Lauren, life couldn't get more rough than it was now. Training has been harsh and constant for her, sometimes it seemed to never end. Meals have been regular but they seemed infrequent but that was probably from all the training. Most of what she had to do was practice her abilities as a combiomorph and learn all the things that would become important as she matured in her new form.

Though she still didn't like him, Keith was her mentor through all of it. He praised her and corrected her in everything, a smile on his face. He never seemed happier, really, and even to Lauren it seemed that some of the insanity was fading, but then again, she could be wrong…

"I've decided that you're ready." He said one day after a hard day of training Lauren's electric attacks. Now she could easily do a Thunder attack, without loosing _too _much energy. In a real fight she'd maybe be able to use it once and that's just if she were fully charged before hand.

"Ready for what?" She asked sourly, cocking her head to the side. He shuffled through his pockets briefly and then pulled out what looked like a remote control. She'd seen it before, but couldn't quite remember where. He held it in his hand like a precious jewel.

"To spy." He said and opened a compartment on the back of it. Memories came flooding back to her, none of them particularly pleasant. It was the remote that had zapped Celli when she was disobedient, the one she'd used on her herself. Until she got away that is… The green screen in the compartment flashed every few seconds to show a small, bleeping dot moving around with coordinates attached in the upper right hand corner of it. "You remember Celli, do you not?" He asked.

"How could I forget?" She growled. She didn't know whether to hate or envy the human-dog. She was the one that made her this way, the won that made all forms of respect fall from her. But, then again, Celli was free and she herself was not. Conflicting emotions passed through her eyes.

"Of course, of course," he mumbled, "Well, you will be spying on her." Her eyes lit up instantly, she would get to go out of the drab walls of Team Blasters HQ!! "But there's one requirement," her eyes drooped ever so slightly. "You have to bring one of the admins with you." Her shoulders dropped to the side and her eyes went wide. She had to get a babysitter! Of all things! A babysitter! Just like when she was five. She sighed, there wasn't going to be any way around this.

"Okay." She said and nodded her head. "If I must." A hint of surprise flitted across his face.

"You will? I mean great! You will set out today. Here's a GPS and the tracker. Wait just a second while I find an admin. Take a seat." He said and pointed to the bench behind her. A bottle of Feraligatorade was at one end, a towel at the other. She walked over a sat in the middle of the bench, lifting her tail so she could sit down more easily. "Very good." Keith said and turned away from her, headed for the door. He exited out of the gym's doors and allowed them to slam shut. Lauren sat perfectly still for a minute, just in case he were to peek inside, he'd done it before after all. She got up from her seat and walked around the gym. She wanted to practice her transforming, she hadn't gotten down quite yet and she knew it would be essential to her spying.

She got down onto her hands and knees and concentrated hard on a mental picture of a Jolteon. She felt herself changing, slowly, but surely. Her mouth protruded out and took the shape of a muzzle while her back legs shortened and became more appropriate for a four-legged stance. Her Vaporeon tail and fins disappeared and her Jolteon features became more predominant on her body. After just over a minute the transformation was complete. '_Yes! Finally!_' She thought as he flexed her legs. This was the fastest she'd changed so far and she hadn't even tried changing into Vaporeon yet. That would have to wait until later.

She took a few steps forward, carefully getting herself used to walking on four legs. It seemed that no matter how many times she changed, she'd never get used to walking on four legs. It was beginning to annoy her. After she'd gotten used to walking, she crouched into an attack position and allowed electricity to spark all over her body. Now she was ready to use her favorite move of all time, Volt Tackle. There was nothing between her and the other side of the gym, if she could run fast enough, she could probably jump off the wall and into the air, traveling like a lightning bolt, then she could unleash a Thunder attack while in midair, causing a wonderful and beautiful spectacle that only she could experience. If she were to ever be in a contest, she would probably be simply amazing.

"Three…" She said and began to tense her muscles. "Two…" Electricity began to surround her, making a shield of stunning brightness around her. "One." She said and dashed forwards, going faster than any human could ever run.

"You're getting better." She froze in midstep, her spikes bristling. She jumped around instantly to see Keith standing there, his Espeon tail flitting around happily. Behind him, a man stood. He looked strong and muscular. His face was set in a scowl and when he breathed, it seemed more like a growl. She shuddered away from him automatically. This was the type of man one would expect to be in a nightmare, the type that one would instinctively fear if they were to see him.

"Is that the one I'm to be partnered with?" He growled harshly, pointing a wrinkled finger at her. She automatically growled at him, instincts being more dominant in her mind while in Pokemon form than when she was a combiomorph.

"Yes." Keith said and waved the hardened man in. Lauren shrunk back slightly but forced herself to stay put. She wasn't about to allow this man to think of her as a coward. She glared at the man as he came closer. He glared back. "This is Lauren. Lauren, this is Mr. Trist." Keith said and the man gave a slight bow.

"Nice to meet you." He said and extended an arm. He pulled it quickly back when he remembered that she was in Pokemon form. Lauren stared at him in confusion. '_Pick a personality!_' She thought. She was always weirded out whenever people's personalities changed every other sentence, but that was just the way they were and she'd have to learn to live with it.

"Excuse me for a moment." She said and streaked behind the bleachers, knowing all they heard was 'Jolteon,' or some such. She began to transform back to a human and achieved full transformation faster than when she turned into Jolteon. She was thankful that her clothing came back with the transforming, that saved her a lot of embarrassment. She took a deep breath and walked back into the main part of the gym where the two men were waiting. She hurried over as Keith explained the assignment.

"Find her and her group and spy on them for about a day or so then call us and we'll handle the rest." A fire suddenly burned in his eyes. "No traitor of Team Blaters makes it away alive." He growled as his Alakazam ears stiffened and his tail lashed about. "Do you understand?" He asked, all traces of anger completely wipe clean from his face.

"Yes." She and Mr. Trist said together.

"Very good. Mr. Trist, I'm sure your Dragonite will be of service as far as transportation goes, right?" Keith asked, turning to the burly man.

"He'll be fine. Come, Lauren, we have a lot to do." And the two of them set out of the gym, leaving Keith behind. He stayed until the doors closed behind the duo. '_This is turning out to be easier than I thought it would be,_' he thought, '_maybe I'll be able to shape Lauren into a fine leader yet._'

* * *

"Ready." Lauren growled into the cell phone. Mr. Trist was crouched beside her.

"Are you sure the coordinates are right?" A voice crackled over the phone.

"Why would I be wrong?" She answered, squeezing the phone a little harder than was necessary.

"Good, good. Missile one, launched." The voice answered and a series of sounds from a machine streamed over the phone. Lauren looked over to her partner.

"Duck!" She cried and laid flat on the ground, awaiting the coming explosion. Mr. Trist did the same. She shut the cellphone, half crushing it with her increased strength. She gritted her teeth and tucked into herself. One thought flashed through her mind before the missile hit. '_Am I doing the right thing?_' BOOM!!

A/N: Is the connection between this chapter and last chapter obvious? Please tell me what you think in a review! Oh, and whoever reviews first will be the 400th review!! Awesome!! Anyways, I hoped you liked the chapter and please check out a story I'm co-writing with my friends srgeman, Lady of Darkfire, and Lightning-Alchemist-Rini. It's called Stray Fates and can be found on srgeman's profile. Be sure to check it out!!

Combios: So there was a few elements of combiomorphs in this chapter. Poor Lauren and her combiomorph status. Oh well, she's fun to write about. No updates, but we do have a reply. May we see that story up soon. Remember to review!!

Pika!


	45. Impossibility

A/N:

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter!! This chapter was fun for me to write, and it got me a little worked up, but still, enjoy! And review please!

Chapter 45: Impossibility

We flew out over the sand, getting closer to it rapidly. "AHHHHH!" I screamed, flailing around in the air. Marius, only half-conscious, plummeted to the ground beside me. Gregor got control of himself quickly, despite how he'd been weakened in the gym. He flopped through the air before spreading his wings wide so they would catch the air.

"Celli!" He yelled out to me and began flying over. I did my best to turn to him during mid-fall.

"No! I'll be fine! Save the others!" I called before somersaulting in the air. The sand was getting rapidly closer, and so was the explosion. Shocks were still running through the small island. A few people ran around, screaming for help.

"You're sure?" He asked, wasting what little time we had.

"Yes! I'll get Marius! If I can…" I said, my voice faltering at the end of my sentence. I looked over at him, he was limp and falling, fast. Maybe if I dove, I could get under him…but if I missed…I didn't want to think of what would happen then.

"Okay." Gregor said and shrugged his shoulders, flying off to get Timothy, who was very much conscious and screaming his head off, onto his back. I concentrated fully on diving, but that was only so easy when you're falling at who-knows-how-many-miles-per-hour. Tears from the wind blowing against me stained my eyes and forced me to squint, making it harder to see.

I pulled my body closer together, so that I could fall faster, and then, once I was under him, I struck my limbs back out so that I was spread-eagle. I jerked up into the air instantly, and straight into Marius' chest. I heard him gasp and then he was silent. I almost started worrying, but then remembered the task at hand. I peered down through the clouds, searching for a place, any place, that I could land safely. I knew, that with Marius on my back, my chances of survival would be dashed so I needed a soft place to land.

I scanned the ground below to see…nothing, except for huge billowing strips of gray and orange, swirling and twirling upwards. They roared out and leaped at each other, growling in protest. The swirling attackers threatened to surround me, and I could do nothing except allow them to consume me, hoping that the land beneath would be soft.

I was engulfed by the swirling clouds, they blinded me instantly. I prepped myself for a landing that I knew wouldn't be graceful by anyone's measures. My back legs curled and my front legs straightened, and I clenched my teeth together, bracing for the impact.

The hit was swift and seemingly impossible. It was like I felt the land between my paws and then passed right through it, not without taking a full hit on my body first though. I didn't know where I was, I was still surrounded by blackness, but pain blasted at me from all directions. It was almost like fire, but I was a fire type, so it couldn't be.

I tried to scream, but nothing came out, instead, something stinging like a scorpion came into my mouth, causing me to cough and struggle against the thing in my mouth. I gasped for breath through my nose, but the stinging came through there, too. I flailed about in my weightless little space, searching for somewhere that had air, a way out of this blackness.

It was only then that I realized that nothing was on my back. Marius! He was gone! If I lost him…I didn't care about my own well-being, all I wanted was to find Marius. I struggled in the exasperating pain, fighting against it to see through the blackness. But the only things my eyes were met with was blinding pain.

Unconsciously, I gave a kick with my leg and I felt myself moving forward, up or down, I didn't know, but I was moving. The one motion drained a lot of energy from my body and I caught myself as my mouth opened up to pant. I gave another solid kick and moved slightly farther, but tiring myself out even more.

Suddenly, I wasn't moving under my own power anymore. I was pushed harshly forward and I felt the darkness beating harder against my fur. I flipped and somersaulted around, barrel rolling through the black. I knew I was growing weaker as I slammed into the bottom of whatever I was in. I smashed against a few things sticking out from the bottom, but they were just as black as everything.

Then, just as I was about to collapse, I was shot up at an amazing speed and I smashed through the barrier of complete darkness. I took in a huge gulp of air, just to find out that it was almost as bad as what I was breathing in the darkness. Though I was in actual air, I still wasn't on land, strangely.

I looked down to see that I was in water! That was what I'd been stuck in. And Marius! He was still in there! I took another breath of smoky air and dove under the water, searching everywhere. I swam as fast as I could, despite the flaring pain erupting from everywhere.

I dove deeper, flailing around, until I slammed into the bottom. I pulled myself up as my body automatically pulled skyward, my lungs aching from lack of oxygen. Up ahead, I saw a lump, darker than anything else. I swam towards it, pushing myself beyond limits.

There, sitting, was something I hope I never have to see again. Marius, his mouth agape, stared at nothing. He was completely motionless and frozen. His hair floated around his face, some of it falling into his wide open eyes. He seemed to be stuck in a silent scream, his arms, they seemed to have been outstretched not long ago, fell limply against his sides. His body pushed and pulled with the current. His fedora was long gone, and the scar it was covering shone like the sun in my eyes.

I stared, half-petrified, at him. He couldn't be…no way…not possible…he can't be dead! I moved forward a little, all worries about myself completely forgotten. It was like I was running on some supernatural force. It was all I could do not to throw up as I looked at him. I touched my nose to his face, but he didn't have even the slightest response. My eyes widened and I gave him a sloppy lick, still nothing.

'_Marius!_' I thought, _'You can't do this to me!_' I scooped him up carefully in my jaws and swam upwards with a speed I didn't know I was capable of. I shot out of the water and thrust my limbs forward. I had to get to shore even if it was the last thing I did! I couldn't let Marius die! No! No! No!

I felt salty tears stream down my cheeks. '_Marius……………No, don't_' even my thoughts sounded pathetic, desperate. There was no chance. But there had to be! There just had to!

A/N: Umm….ummm….don't hate me please!! You'll see…next chapter. Hmm…is it just me or was this chapter shorter than normal? Oh well, next chapter'll be pretty long! Lots of things to happen. Oh, and before I forget, I edited the first two chapters so that they're better. I'm going through and editing them all. Review, please!

Combios: Poopfartbutts has made another combio story! It's called Amelia Gyrth: Super Naturalist. Read when you can! And a possible reply. That's it for now!

Pika!


	46. Reunion

A/N: Yay!! I finally got around to updating Periwinkle! Sorry, I've been busy. Darn school…If you haven't yet, try reading my new story, Burning Frustration. Thank you!! Thank you to srgeman, ClincallyInsaneandDangerous, Dynamite Dude, Lady of Darkfire, and Lightning-Alchemist-Rini for reviewing. Now for this chapter! Yay!! Enjoy.

Chapter 46: Reunion

I don't know how long I've been here. Days? Months? Years? It makes no sense to me. All that matters is the face in front of me. The cold, pale, unmoving face. His mouth was still agape, his eyes peeled open. I'd arrived on shore not long ago, and rolled him off of my back. The darkness was still total, yet it was thinning rapidly. No aftershocks rumbled through the ground. Somewhere in my mind, concern rose up for my friends, but it was forgotten instantly as my eyes met his. I couldn't allow him to die, there was no way it was too late, but the thing was…

I didn't know what to do.

I'd seen, in movies, CPR and First Aid and stuff, but it'd been so long…I couldn't remember back then. I cried out in frustration and paced around him. I was wasting time, I knew it, I had to get help. And there was only one way to do that.

"I'll be back, Marius," I told him, a small tear forming in my eye. It splashed onto his cheek and ran down the side of his face. I brushed my paw over it, erasing the blemish. Then, with one final look back, I took off in the direction I thought the city was.

I ran, I ran faster than I'd ever run before. With every step, a jab of pain ran through my body, with every step, the world became more blurry. But I couldn't give up. If I gave up now, all would be lost, if I gave up now…there would be no reason to live. An image of Marius flashed through my mind, a healthy, happy Marius.

He looked happy in the mental picture. Epi, his dearly departed Stararaptor was sitting on his shoulder, cawing happily and Cosette, his Absol that I'd killed with my own hand, was sitting next to him, her head nustled against his side. And Marius…he looked so happy in the picture, he had his hand on Cosette's head and he was laughing with Epi, a huge smile on his face.

Tears streamed down my face. His Pokemon…I missed them so much, and I deeply regretted what happened to Cosette, I really did. I slowed down then. Was saving him for the best? If he died, then he'd be with his Pokemon, and he'd be happy. But I loved him! Sure, I didn't show it as much as I wish I had, but still, I loved him more than anything. Was it selfish?

I wailed and screamed, "Somebody help me!!" Not only was it a call to help Marius, but also, one to help me figure out the right thing to do. No answer, but did I expect one? Surely I didn't, if that was a missle, then everything and everyone would've been blown to bits.

I crashed to the ground, planting my face into the dirt. My tears soaked the ashy ground. "What should I do?" I sobbed softly to myself.

" I know something you could do." A voice sounded behind me. It was high-pitched and childlike, but it held so much authority, the voice alone would put you at your knees. I picked myself up and turned to see the one who'd helped me so many times before, Mew. He floated in front of me, just at eye level, and the sun shone behind him, piercing the smoke and making light dance on his pink coat.

"What?" I asked quietly, amazed.

"Some things cannot be changed, you understand this, right?" He asked me.

"Y-Yes." I stuttered, not sure if I really did.

"Well then, I can tell you for one thing, both Epi and Cosette want Marius to be okay and alive." He said as if practiced.

"You know about them!?" I asked.

"Well, of course! And Cosette forgives you." He added on quickly, "And Marius is still alive, yet he is near death. " I sighed in relief. "So he can be saved, but I'm sorry to say, he will be in a coma. I cannot tell you for how long."

"Why not?" I protested and he grinned.

"The future is not written in stone. Now go! The hospital is still standing, despite half of it crashing down. They'll take him." I turned to leave, energy refreshing itself within me. I trotted away at top speed, trying to go even faster. "HURRY!!" Mew called behind me and disappeared in a white flash.

I could see ahead of me now, the black smoke had thinned out enough for that. Disaster lay ahead. Once I'd finally reached the city limits, I had to jump over crashed street lights, dodge falling debris and cross scenes so dreadful, I can't stand to describe them.

The town was empty, soundless. Remains of cars and buildings were everywhere. The road had become a darker shade of black and a layer of the color was on everything. I heard flapping above me. "Celli!!" A familiar voice called from above me. I looked up to see the Pidgeot diving for a landing on the road in front of me. Timothy was on his back, holding for dear life and from his claws, two Pokemon hung, a Treecko and a Piplup. And from his beak hung a very angry looking Wartortle. Gregor dropped his passengers on the ground and landed, panting heavily.

"You…guys…are…heavy." He said between gasps of breath.

"I told you I was fine!" Rachel shouted crossly.

"Yeah, flailing around in the water is completely fine, right?" Gregor asked sarcastically and looked over to me. Rachel scowled. "Hey, where's Marius?" I instantly turned my attention to the ground, hesitant to answer.

"He needs medical attention, now." I muttered and dashed passed them, running for the hospital that was coming into view in the distance.

"Wait up, Celli!" Rain cried, stumbling over her little penguin feet. Seth helped her up.

"No," he said, "this is her battle, let her fight it."

"What?" Rain asked in confusion and Seth smiled.

"You'll see." He said and that was all I could hear before I ran down the last slope until the hospital. I crashed through the front doors. A lady was in the lobby, cleaning up all the broken furniture and fixing the files.

"I'm sorry, but we don't serve Pokemon." She said emotionlessly.

"But you've got to save my friend! He could die any second!" I shouted and ran back out the door, making sure she was following. "Follow me!" I barked and she did, even though I knew she couldn't understand me.

* * *

**On the mountain above them…**

"Hey, um, Lauren, I think you gave them the wrong coordinates." The big, muscular man whispered to his partner.

"No I didn't." She protested her Vaporeon tail striking the ground.

"Then how come it hit that mountain over there and not the town?" He asked, pointing to another large mountain on the other side of the mountain from them.

"It was right on target. Keith isn't going to destroy the lives of anyone else ever again." She added under her breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing!" She said and he rolled his eyes. "So, how do you like working for Keith?" She started. If she ever went on an all out rebellion against the guy, she would have to have accomplices. She grinned evilly to herself.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter again!! I'll try and make the next one longer. So how do you think Marius will do? And what's Lauren trying to do? Oooh, and there was a visit from Mew this chapter!! This chapter is awesome because I typed it on Microsoft Office 2007!! Yay!! Okay, now review!!

Pika!


	47. Hope

A/N: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!! Again…sorry, sorry, I really am. Thank you to s11jande, ShiningCalvin, srgeman, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini , and X-DragonFire-X for reviewing. And to my wonderful beta, Natasha Mikkle, for editing etc. Thank you all of you!

Chapter 47: Hope

I ran as fast as my paws could carry me.

_Thump_

_Thump_

_Thump_

Closer, closer, ever so closer. Marius must be saved! With every step, I feel myself weakening. I'd exerted too much energy in the water to be running around like this. But anything for Marius! Anything. The medics trailed behind me. I had to slow down every once in awhile to let them catch up. Why couldn't they go faster!?

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tick_

Time was flying by, every second felt like an hour, every minute like a lifetime. Instead of feeling closer, I felt farther away. _'I have to make it!' _I prodded myself, tensing myself in concentration. A loud roar echoed out of my throat as I put my last efforts into moving faster.

After what felt like an eternity, I felt my paws pounding on the soft, soot-covered sand. It wasn't long now. "Hold on, Marius!" I shouted as I saw his limp form sprawled on the ground ahead.

"Is that him?" A medic behind me asked as I pulled to a stop beside Marius' side. I barked as an answer as I nudged him closer to the team. Quickly, taking all precautions, the medics lifted him carefully onto the stretcher and strapped him in tight. They took off for the hospital rapidly, rolling the stretcher wherever it would move the easiest.

As they were running, one of the men stopped and let go of the stretcher. He whispered something to the others and they ran off again, leaving the man behind. He walked up to me and patted my head.

"Thank you," he said, smiling, "any one person saved from this catastrophe is worth more than you could ever know." He sighed as he turned around, his semi-long brown hair back-slashing into his face. "We'll take good care of him." He ran off in the direction of the hospital, his steps smooth and even. It wasn't long before he disappeared into the destroyed city.

'_Weird… why would he bother telling me stuff like that…oh well, it's probably nothing. I need to go find my friends now, I guess,' _I thought and walked to the city, too tired to run. As soon as I found somewhere to lay down, I was going to take a nice, long nap.

* * *

"You'd think she'd be back by now," Gregor mumbled looking out from their makeshift 'home.' As much of a home that a couple pieces of broken drywall and cardboard was anyway. Sighing, Gregor looked around at his companions. Timothy was huddled in a back corner, Flame was sitting beside him, making pictures in the ash. Reo was also with Timothy, he seemed to be practicing his Psychic abilities. Rachel and Seth were talking about something or another, not that Gregor cared, and Rain was fumbling with something shiny.

"Maybe she's busy…I'm guessing Marius wasn't doing too good," Rain mumbled, scrutinizing the shiny thing closely.

"Maybe…" Gregor fluttered over to her, sitting down clumsily next to her. "What's that?" Gregor pointed at the thing she was playing around with.

"You should know," Rain said shoving it in his face. Now that it was closer, Gregor could see that it was a feather. Sort of brownish, with specks of white all over it.

"Refresh my memory, please," Gregor said with a smile.

"You seriously don't remember!?" Rain put it right in front of his eye, he shook his head. Rain rolled her eyes. "Ugh, it's the feather I got when I came here! Why won't it work?" She shouted, and for the first time that Gregor could remember, her expression turned angry. "There has to be something wrong with it! We should be out by now! This isn't right…" she trailed off as her anger dispersed to sadness. Gregor tucked a comforting wing behind her.

"What's wrong, what's not right?" Gregor said softly, looking grimly at the feather.

"The feather…it was supposed to get us out of here. But it's done nothing, nothing at all. And now Marius is hurt…things couldn't get any worse!" She shouted, a tear falling from her eye. Gregor wiped it with his other wing.

"Oh, yes, I remember now…you're the Guide. The one Celli's dreams told us about and that you're supposed to get us out of here," he patted her softly, "it's alright, maybe it doesn't have anything to do with the feather. Have you ever considered that?" he offered.

"No, not really. You think that could be it? But what WILL get us back home then?" her begging eyes looked into Gregor's.

"I don't know, Rain, I don't think any of us do," he shook his head in defeat, "maybe we weren't meant to return," he added gravely.

"What!?" Rain cried, "but we have to get home! I've never told this to anyone, but I think that Chris went back to the real world when he died. If we don't get back to the real world…then I'd be crushed. I wouldn't be able to go on with my life. You understand, don't you?" Gregor was speechless. Rain still had hope…but how? It'd been so long. How could she know Chris was still waiting for her? For an instant, Gregor admired Rain. She was standing in one of the worst times of her life, if not the worst, yet she was still had hope. A shining beacon in darkness.

Gregor knew he'd lost all his hope long ago. He'd given up ever going back home, ever seeing his mom again, ever seeing any of his friends in their normal forms again. Inwardly, he'd given up, having thought that everyone else had as well. But it seemed he was mistaken. If this little penguin-girl could still hold out hope after this long, then he could too.

"You know what? You're right. You're more right than you've ever been before," Gregor could feel his hope resurfacing. He'd see his parents again, he knew it in his heart. Nothing would defy him ever again. He'd grow strong in hope. He'd hope for his friends, hope for another day, hope for a day when the sun would come out on him in human form. He'd hope for the best.

Rain looked up at him. "What? What do you mean?" She cocked her blue head to the side. Gregor couldn't help but smile as he returned her look. He wrapped his wings around her and held her close to himself. "What are you doing?" Rain asked, struggling.

"Thank you, Rain. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much better I feel now," Gregor set her back down again.

"What'd I do?" she asked.

"I think I figured out how we can get back home," he said, smiling.

"Really? How? How? How?" she asked, jumping up and down.

"It's simple, all we need to get out, is to have hope." She froze in mid-jump.

"Hope? Really? That's it?" she struck a pose, "then I'm all set!"

"Yes. When you were talking about Chris or Volt or whatever, your hope reached out to me. And that's when I realized it. All we need is hope," Gregor nudged her so she could see the others, "What we need now, though, is for everyone to have hope. Only then will we be able to get out." Rain nodded.

"Oh, alright then. Do you think they'll believe us?"

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

"Ye-" she was cut off by someone yelling.

* * *

"Gregor! Rachel! All you guys! Where are you?" I shouted as I stumbled through the wreck, about to collapse. "Come on!" I wheezed.

"We're over here!" I saw Gregor's head pop out from behind a broken piece of drywall, "all of us."

"Alright," I mumbled breathlessly as I pulled myself closer. I walked through a narrow passageway that they must have been using as a door and plopped down in front of them.

"How's Marius?" Rachel asked, walking over to me.

"I don't know, but Mew told me he would be fine," I said quietly, "I got the medics to him, and I know they took him to the hospital. That's all I know though."

"Oh, well…I hope he's okay," Rachel said, looking to the ground.

"Me too. Come on, let's get to the hospital and see if he's okay." I struggled to my feet, gasping, before falling back down, flat on my face.

"No, Celli," Gregor ordered, "you're too weak, you need to rest."

"But what about-"

"Marius will be fine, trust me. All you need to do is rest. We'll go once you're up again."

"I need to go make sure!" I cried, paranoid.

"Trust me, Celli!" Gregor said, lifting his wings, "I know what I'm doing."

"Bu-" Gregor sighed and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Things have been crazy lately, Celli, the last thing we need is someone else too hurt to continue. I know you care a lot about him, Celli, but he'll be fine. You'll see," he added softly. I closed my eyes slightly and I could already feel consciousness retreating.

"Fine, Gregor," I mumbled, "I trust you."

"Good," Gregor gave me a sort of sideways look as he turned, "have hope Celli. You need it now more than ever" That was the last thing I heard before I fell into the black pool of sleep.

A/N: This chapter was pretty fun to write, what with switching to Gregor and the group and all. I hope you guys liked it. Sorry again for the late chapter. I've been VERY busy with school. Craziness…see you guys!

Pika!


	48. Forgot Something?

A/N: This is absolutely horrible but I was tired of it going so slow, so I tried to skip past some of the boring stuff. You'll probably hate this, you all will. But I'll make sure the next chapter's better. Sorry for the shortness. Enjoy…I hope.

Chapter 48: Forgot something?

Yawning, I pulled myself up from the ground, feeling refreshed. I stretched out each of my gigantic paws and arched my back up in a revitalizing stretch. That felt good.

"Feeling better?" Gregor asked. He was perched on one of the stray pieces of drywall, his head cocked to the side. Rain was standing on his back, concern on her face.

"Yeah, much, thanks for asking," I smiled. "Are we ready to move out then?" I scanned the others. They looked able enough. Gregor gave a questioning look to all of them. After everyone gave their nods, he looked back to me.

"Yeah, we're ready. Would you like to lead the way?" He held out his wing ahead of him and moved to the side.

"Sure, thanks." I said as I curled myself into a jumping position. Putting all my force on my hind legs, I shot out over the drywall and hit the ground running. I made sure to keep my pace easy so that the others stayed with me, but with my new energy, it was all I could do to not go fast.

Soot covered my coat with every step, slowing me down. Every once in awhile, I'd shake it off, but it would just collect again.

"Is that it?" Gregor asked, nodding towards the building coming up in the distance.

"Yep, that's the one." I went full speed now and reached my destination in only a matter of seconds. Running like that…it was like stopping time, I just loved it. I sidestepped to the right quickly so that I could run straight through the already shattered glass doors. My friends arrived not long afterwards, gasping for breath.

"Hello," a nurse said from behind the desk. Timothy, panting like a dog, broke out of our little group and walked up to her.

"We just wanted to know…if Marius was okay," he mumbled, slumping on the desk.

"Marius? Oh! The man that Arcanine brought us? Yes, he's fine. No need to worry, we're sending him to Maulville Health Center as we speak," she said happily, cracking a fake-looking smile.

"Alright, good." Timothy got up and came back over to us as he told us the news. I sighed in relief. At least he was okay. And we'd be in Maulville pretty soon, so we could makesure he was okay when we got there. It looked like everything would be alright.

I turned to face my group. "Okay guys, that's all I needed to know. I guess we can go to Slateport now." A cheer erupted out of my audience from everyone except one. Reo was sitting on the ground, his hand under his chin and his eyes tightly closed as if in deep concentration. He looked up slowly, his face ominous.

"What about Kyogre?" was his simple question that made all of our eyes go big.

"K-K-Kyogre?" Seth stuttered.

"Yes, the being of the seas," confirmed Reo with a slight bow of his head.

"Aw, this'll be great." I said, sarcasm wafting through my voice.

"But we must! My friend will be disappointed if we didn't."

"You mean the crazy Krabby/Mew thing? Yeah, sure…" Rain put in, crossing her little flippers.

"No! This is serious! Besides, all this ruckus may have agitated her. Who knows what she'll do if she gets angry." I briefly imagined the world being sunk under twenty or so feet of water.

"Uh…I think Reo's right. Let's go see Kyogre, or at least calm her down," I finally admitted. I don't think a world of water is very good exactly.

"Thank you, madam," he said with a slight bow of his head. Rain rolled her eyes.

"Oh, fine." The others also gave their consent. Blaze went to work with informing Timothy of what was going on.

A short boat ride later, we were in front of Kyogre's cave. Darkness engulfed it and I could hear the soft pitter-patter of water falling to the ground of the cave. Every once in awhile, the ground would begin to shake, but only so slightly. Angry roars could be heard from deeper in.

"I'm not too sure about this, Celli," Rachel said, her voice quivering. She leaned in close to me, her shell barely brushing the longer fur on my front leg.

"It'll be fine," I promised with a fake smile, "trust me." Rachel didn't say anything back, her eyes downcast. I gave her a reassuring nudge and a genuine smile. "Come on," I said politely. We began our trek through the cave. It was long and dark, we had to keep calling on Blaze to blow some fire for light. Me and him took turns lighting the path. Every time we talked, the tunnel echoed back our voices. A few Pokemon were in the cave, but not too many. They must've been driven out by the blast. Or maybe even the dangerous creature that lurked at the end of this cave. The sounds were getting louder now, and the tiny quakes had morphed into giant tears through the ground.

Rachel walked carefully over and around the gaping holes. "That Kyogre must be some kind of mad!"

"Uh…yeah," Seth called from behind, "Who's up for turning back?"

"A true warrior never turns back," Reo growled. "One more turn left. Is everyone ready?" There was a second's pause.

"…NO!" came the universal cry of the whole group.

"Good then. Let's go." I sighed as I released a long flame, trying to find the exit to the dark, wet cave. There it was, only about ten feet ahead. I took a deep breath before stepping through the threshold of the entrance.

"Gwarrh!!!!" Kyogre thrashed in the deep water, splattering it everywhere.

Here we go again.


	49. Battling the Beast

A/N: Okay then, two hours worth of editing and one hour worth of writing. I _really_ hope this one is better than the last one. Sorry about the late update, on the day I wrote this, the Internet went out and I've just now gotten back. Now, the second longest chapter of the fic, a total of five pages. Enjoy!

Chapter 49: Battling the Beast

If ever there was a time that I was scared out of my mind, now would be that time. Looking at me straight in the eyes, not ten feet away, was the biggest monster I'd ever seen before in the entirety of my life. He had a merciless glare, and he showed his teeth with confidence. The others in my little group froze behind me, not sure of what to do. I thought I heard someone gasp. The beast waited, the lines across his body glowing blood-red. He looked like he was about to blow. Angry legendary- the last thing I wanted.

In all my years of playing Pokemon, I'd never really imagined them being much bigger than they were in the shows, just little foot-tall animals running around. It should've occurred to me by now that this wasn't the truth, I _was_ six feet tall after all, but, strangely, it hadn't. Now, as I looked at this mighty legendary, I knew I was in way over my head.

I heard quiet footsteps coming up beside me, seemingly filled with authority. I risked a glance to the side to see Reo's smiling face. He gave me a little wave before facing the water legendary. "Kyogre," he started, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Reo stood ready, yet still somehow business-like. Kyogre grimaced at him.

"What do you awful creatures want?" he asked, or should I say growled?

"I'm here to give you a once in a lifetime opportunity," Reo said, suddenly sounding like a car salesman. I gave him a slight push, but it didn't seem to work. "You'll be a part of a _great_ cause." Oh, _come on already_.

"And what cause would this be?" he didn't seem at all interested. I probably wouldn't either, he wasn't very good at this convincing stuff.

"To destroy Team Blasters." Kyogre nodded thoughtfully. His tail moved nonchalantly through the water. "You've heard of them?"

"Yes, of course, pity to the weak that haven't…" Reo was about to say something before Kyogre raised a flipper. "Don't bother me with all the crap about them. Evil to both Pokemon _and _humans, responsible for combiomorphs…blah blah blah." Kyogre rolled his eyes, "Why should I care?" He pushed himself up in the water, making himself look larger and, if possible, more threatening.

"They may come after you. Your DNA would be very important to them," Reo stated, concern filling his voice. I wondered if he really cared.

"You think I'm weak," Kyogre accused, narrowing his eyes as he moved closer to us. His form towered over Reo. I thought I saw him fidget slightly. I smiled, poor guy.

"No, it's just that…" he was cut off by a grand sound, unmatchable by _anything_. I threw myself to the ground, covering my ears. Kyogre thrashed against the ground with his flipper, causing jagged streaks to run across the rocks. They spread under us quickly, spindling like a dozen tiny spiders. Water filled their crevices instantly, the huge lake feeding them an infinite supply of water. I instantly jumped back up, placing my paws as far away from the cracks as possible. Looking back, I saw Blaze perched precariously high on some rocks above. His eyes were opened wide with fear at the water. I could understand. I just wished I was light enough to do the same. I jumped side to side, watching out for the water. Reo stood defiantly, one of his feet bridging over a gap in the rock. He crossed his arms and I thought for sure he was grinning at Kyogre slyly. _Now_ he did it. Idiot. I snarled at him.

Kyogre, enraged, let out a huge roar as he jumped out of the water. He cleared it and seemed to fly high in the air, graceful as a ballerina. He did two flips in the air, the lines across his body pulsing like mad, before straightening himself in the air and making his whole body rigid. I watched with wide eyes as he plunged towards the water. Scared, I jumped back towards the wall, trying to pull myself high like Blaze had.

"What are you doing?" I heard Rain ask just before something like the sound of, say, an eighteen wheeler hitting the ground from the height of about a hundred feet, pulsed through the cave. I turned just in time to see a huge wall of water rushing at us. "Oh," Rain said and then it was on us like a sack of bricks. It drove me into the rock wall, crushing out any scream I could have had stored. I strained in vain for the surface, gasping in the water for breath, not that it helped much. Finally, I broke the surface, but it wasn't of my doing, the water was just going back down into the lake.

"Ow…" I mumbled as I felt my feet touch the ground. Reo surfaced ahead us, still somehow in the same place. I heard Timothy groan to the right. He'd been driven into a particularly sharp rock and was bent over in pain. Blaze, completely dry, jumped down to join him. Everyone else in the group seemed to be okay due to either being strong to water or being a water type. Lucky…

"Still think I'm weak?" Kyogre taunted, laughing. The last of the water drained back into the lake, leaving us collapsed on the wet ground. I saw a bit of searing red on Kyogre's white belly from the massive belly flop, but he ignored it completely. How much pain could this thing take? Belly flops that huge should _hurt_. Reo glared defiantly at him.

"No, we're just stronger." Reo stated it like he really believed it. I wasn't too sure _I _believed him though. "Get ready everyone!" Reo called back. "Talking's not going to work, get up and let's force him to join us!" I glared at him. It wasn't like I'd really _joined_ this force; I was just sucked up in it. All the same, I got ready for battle. Rain's beak began to glow, Rachel charged up some water for a Hydro Pump, Blaze stood in a karate-like battle pose, Gregor flew up high over us, his wings flashing like steel, and Seth began charging a Bullet Seed. I saw Reo raise an arm out as he said something, a rock immediately slammed into Kyogre's side.

Battle time.

I launched up from the ground, my wet fur slowing me down. I landed smoothly on the rough rock close to shore and broke into a run. Once I was close enough, I jumped out over the water, claws extended and teeth bared. I dove mercilessly for his back. Just as I landed, green bullets sprung into the air, nailing one after another into Kyogre's head. He thrashed beneath me, trying to get away from our onslaught.

Soon, the cave was brightly lit from all the various attacks. I knew, though, that only one of them was actually having any effect. Due to Kyogre being a water-type and nearly all of our team being either neutral or weak to water-type, we were at quite the disadvantage. That meant it was time for me to play hard ball. I smiled, my teeth flashing in the attack-light. I'd enjoy this.

I dug my claws deep into his back as I readied my fire. It would take me a few seconds to charge this one, so I needed to have a good grip; I wanted nothing but the best of my ability to come from this attack. Overheat could only be used once with any power after all. "Seth, keep going!" I cheered the grass type. Seth jumped close to Kyogre, his swift steps moving him clear of Kyogre's angry swipes. It was really nice to have a speed specialty like a Treecko on the team sometimes. But all his moving around made it that much harder to stay on. I was almost pitched off a couple of times.

Blaze was doing pretty good, every time Kyogre would even dare to bring one of his flippers within reach of the fighting-fire Pokemon, he would kick it away and loose a stream of fire. Rachel and Rain attacked together, their Hydro Pumps swirling together to make a gigantic vortex of water pounding on Kyogre's side. Seth sent out attack after attack, using Absorb whenever Kyogre actually hit him. It wasn't long before Kyogre's attacks became sluggish against him, so Seth started trying some stronger attacks that took more time. Solarbeam, for instance. Despite the lack of sun, Seth still managed a couple weak Beams, but it must've still felt like heck to Kyogre. His constant cries signaled that pretty well. Gregor swooped back and forth, attacking with Steel Wing on any barren spot he could find. And Reo continued his onslaught of rocks throughout this, making sure not to hit anyone. Timothy had released his Rhydon, who was currently helping him with his wound. Overall, it looked like we were winning.

Then, after what felt like a century, it was ready. I smiled as I raised my head and felt the fire flowing through my body. I gave Kyogre one final slash across the back before sending myself high in the air. Kyogre roared and reared up painfully, about to launch himself into the sky with me. He couldn't manage the jump though, and fell back into the water heavily. I barreled down, my placement perfect.

Fire leaped from my mouth suddenly, quickly enveloping Kyogre's entire body. I felt the fire intensify itself, draining all of my energy. Soon, I could see nothing but the giant swirling tornado of fire. I landed blindly on Kyogre's back, and lashed out wildly with sharp claws, heated by fire. Kyogre screeched, his voice echoing off the walls. The swirling red and orange flames casted dangerous shadows on the walls of the cave, not even going out when it hit the water. Despite the fact I'd wasted all my energy on that attack, I felt more energized than ever. Laughing, I stepped on my own fire, pressing it into Kyogre's skin. I growled as my eyes narrowed. I stood tall over the flames and began screaming a scream that can only be described as prehistoric. Instinct was taking over me again.

I was forced out of awareness once more, all control leaving my body. This had happened before, once or twice, I couldn't remember exactly how many. But I knew that this wasn't good, usually, when this happened, it meant either high levels of emotion, or that I was losing humanity. I really hoped it was only the first. All the same, I was forced to the back of my own mind as a greater force took over my body. I could no longer move on my own behalf. The Instinct's thoughts became my own, and it was thinking one thing and one thing only: this was the kill.

It…or more accurately, _we_, ran across the Kyogre's body, making sure our claws sunk deep into his cartilage-filled skin. Fire licked at our paws from my Overheat, but we ignored them. They couldn't hurt us. They only helped to make our sharp claws even deadlier. Our mouth opened wide as we neared Kyogre's neck. We could feel our teeth: they were pointed and deadly, perfect for the job. This would be too easy. We stopped. There had to be some way to make this more fun.

"Celli!" the voice came from somewhere to our right. We turned to face it. I could barely tell what was me and was the Instinct now, but I struggled against it, trying to reclaim my body. "Stop!" Then I was seeing through its borrowed eyes. Like a movie. I didn't feel one and the same with it anymore- my mind had recognition, its didn't. Using the view, I saw that it was Rachel, just like I'd thought. She looked exhausted and a pool of water had gathered at her feet. Probably from using various water attacks. Rain was next to her, still attacking, but weakly. "Don't kill him!"

"_I'm not trying to!_" I wanted to say, but I still couldn't gain control. I could feel my consciousness fighting with the Instinct's, but it was like trying to knock down a brick wall. With my entire mind, I tried to regain control of my senses. My whole body froze, giving me confidence- I was winning! The only reason that would happen would be that the Instinct was letting go. With one final mind-push, I was through. I opened my mouth and gasped for breath. Yes! I was in control again. I felt the Instinct fade away to nothing. Quickly, I rebuilt the mind-wall, if that makes sense.

All those other times, I realized, the Instinct hadn't been so strong. Back when I was a Poochyena and it took over, it was only for a few seconds while I turned into an Arcanine again. Like the Instinct was _helping_ me to change. But that couldn't be, right? As far as I could tell, the Instinct was evil. Or was it even an instinct at all… This was getting _way_ too confusing.

Breathing heavily, I collapsed on Kyogre's back. Cuts were spaced all over his back from where my claws-no- the Instinct's claws had destroyed it. The last of my Overheat was steadily going out , leaving small burn marks across Kyogre's body. Kyogre felt motionless beneath me. Then I heard someone land. Wingbeats echoed from higher up.

"Celli?" Rachel asked, walking up next to me and nudging my side. "Are you alright?"

I sighed as I shook my head shamefully, "I don't know, it was so sudden. Instinct took over me." She couldn't have realized how true it was. Then I remembered how motionless Kyogre was. "Is Kyogre okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. With all our combined attacks, we made him faint. We're going to wait until he wakes up and Reo'll ask him to join again. But right when he was at his weakest, I saw you up here, about to bite his neck. I couldn't have let you…" Rachel said genuinely as she trailed off. She shuddered, probably imagining the worst.

"Thanks, Rachel, you're a great friend." If she hadn't called me, Instinct probably would have won and I'd be the first Pokemon to ever kill a legendary. In other words: I'd be the Legendaries' Most Wanted. How _great_ would that be? I shook my head slowly.

"It was nothing," she said modestly, "Come on, let's get back on the ground." I nodded as I pulled myself up. Stretching my legs, I found that my body felt like one, big, giant, furry ache. Advil would've been perfect right about now. Rachel and I jumped off Kyogre's back and onto the ground. My landing was nothing close to its usual gracefulness. I tripped on my own feet and tumbled onto my back, rolling around like a child in the mud. Pain exploded all around me.

Shuddering and gritting my teeth, I got back up and took a seat next to my weary partners, all of which were breathing heavily and covered with wounds, even Timothy who held a very beat up Blaze in his arms. He was spraying some Potions on him. His Rhydon was helping. His wound from the rocks on the wall looked a little better, but he was splattered with new ones from fighting against Kyogre. I turned my attention back to Kyogre, I had to make sure Rachel wasn't lying. If I had injured him really badly…I cringed at the thought. Kyogre's body bobbed up and down in the water and was blackened from fire, and wounded from many attacks, but his breathing was still normal and I could hear with my heightened hearing that his heart beat was constant. I smiled, relieved.

He would be fine, now we just had to wait.

A/N: What do you think Kyogre'll choose?

Pika!


	50. Beginning of The End

A/N: This chapter is in dedication to Lady of Darkfire. Thank you for your reviews everyone! Periwinkle was one year old on Wednesday! Incredible, huh? If only I could establish how to update regularly...

Okay then, now for the big question. The war. Should I make it in another fic or continue it in this one? Please answer and I'll try and see if I can put a poll up on my profile. Enjoy!

Chapter 50: Beginning of the End

**Slateport City**

The sun was slowly setting in the sky, its reflection shining beautifully on the stirred waters of the sea. Pokemon of the night began to make low noises, adding to the effect of the sunset. One could describe the scene as romantic even, if not an eternal drama to behold. Wind whipped softly against the beach, causing small vortexes of sand to form wherever it hit. But there was no one here to witness this beautiful scene- no one at all. For the pleasant sunset was not the only amazing sight in this city, the city itself was one as well.

Only the morning before, the horrific had happened. A hurricane- level 4, the first in nearly 20 years. Hoenn was known for its warmth, but never for tropical storms. At least not this far inland. The Slateport Sea was much too far from the ocean to experience something like this.

But, all the same, it had.

Houses were in ruins, streets flooded with the water that hadn't managed to get back to the sea. The large flea market that made Slateport the number one shopping destination was trashed: merchandise spilled everywhere, most of it underwater. The water was dark brown here, as well as every other flooded place in the city. Nothing had escaped its consuming wrath.

The entire place was quiet of human voices and sounds, the Pokemon's mournful tones providing the only backdrop to the scene.

A single figure flew low over the city, slowing as it reached the center. Its lengthy pink tail shifted from side to side behind it, acting as a rudder to guide it around the damage. It danced around destroyed buildings and flooded roads, looking into alleyways and broken windows.

"Anyone here?" it asked, pulling to a stop above the city. It whirled in circles, looking everywhere. It perked its cat-like ears for the slightest sound. Nothing greeted them but the sad Pokemon cries. It shook its head. "What happened here?" it asked no one, its voice carried by the wind.

"Don't you know?" a timid voice asked. The figure twirled in a tight circle, surprised. "I'm over here," the voice laughed from above. The figure jerked its head up to see a small bird flying not even a foot above.

"Tailow?" it asked softly, floating up next to him.

"And you're a Mew," the bird pointed out. Mew rolled its eyes.

"Not like you're thinking. Name's Mariner." Mariner looked out over the city again, a long-forgotten memory coming up from the depths of his mind. Mariner shuddered, shaking the memory away. Some things were better left forgotten.

"Mariner," the bird tested, "I'm Azure. You seriously don't know what caused this!?"

"You see, I've been in Lilycove for the past week-just came out here today. I know nothing, just that I was supposed to meet a friend here." He probed the alleyways with his sharp eyes, wondering if his Krabby eyes were better suited for it.

"Well, good luck with that. The few people who survived this have already been airlifted away. This came out of nowhere, immediately after Dewford was hit by a missile from Team Blasters. The effects of humans and their carelessness. It's horrible, really." Azure dipped his head low. "I doubt you'll find your friend. I'm sorry for you."

"It's sad, isn't it? The humans think everything is theirs. No one is safe." Mariner sniffled. "Not even their own children." Memories burned through his mind now, and he felt a hot tear gathering at his eye. He was too young for this-he knew it. What was he? 12!? This was no job for him, but who else would do it?

"What do you mean?" Azure asked, curiosity sparking in his eye.

"I mean that I'm an experiment, involuntary, of course." He looked at his lightly furred arms, the pink glistening in the setting sun.

"Ex-experiment?" Azure asked carefully. Mariner sighed, realizing how much everything had changed in the past week. He'd met Celli and friends at that cave in Dewford, started an army, gathered and rallied Pokemon against Team Blasters, given speech after speech after speech , and now he was where Celli and him had planned to meet to find it in ruins, and now with this new information of the place he'd last seen here destroyed. She, and her friends, were gone for sure. All thanks to Team Blasters. He felt the rage building up deep within him. He looked Azure right in the eyes.

"I, my friend, am a combiomorph. A Krabby/Mew one at that. I was changed by Team Blasters when I was 8 and served them blindly for 2 years. I then ran away, having learned the truth. Now, 2 years later, I have an army, I'm angry, and there's no one to stop me from destroying Team Blasters right at this very moment." Azure stared at him, his mouth agape. Mariner narrowed his eyes. "You can choose for yourself," he spat, "but there _will be_ no more transformations by Team Blasters."

Mariner zipped high into the sky, glowing as he did. He grew taller and larger, the old T-shirt he wore fluttering in the wind. One hand turned into a scaly pincer whilist the other turned human. The cat-like ears stayed on his head while blonde-red hair came out in his regular messy hairstyle. Short pink fur coated his body. His transformation was complete. This would be the last time Team Blasters hurt another human or Pokemon._This is for you Celli_, he thought.

"Listen well!" he screeched and the Pokemon stopped immediately, a few crawling out atop the houses to see what he was shouting about. "I, Mariner, hereby declare war against Team Blasters and all who stand with them! They shall _not_ cause harm again…" His small audience cheered and he smiled.

He may have been 12, but he had never felt more mature than at this moment. The wind flowed through his scant pink fur, his claw felt like a vice, ready for any strike. He was the top of the world now, nothing could stop him. An unbeatable force, an unconquerable foe. He didn't have to worry about a thing- half trained army or not. He felt a low growl in his throat and his eyes narrowed.

It felt good.

**A helicopter over the sea between Dewford and Petalburg…**

Lauren looked out the window lazily, taking careful note of the nearing darkness. "You wouldn't think it would take so long to get back to base, you know?" she mumbled. They'd been flying for nearly two hours, and she was beginning to get bored. No matter how far they flew away from Dewford, though, it still seemed as though the black debris hung in the air. She shuddered as she twiddled the lethal control in her hand.

"Stop that!" the man who was sitting next to her reached across and grabbed the remote from her hand. "The last thing we need is _more_ trouble." His whole body was shaking, his eyes darting around constantly. Lauren took a deep breath, she had to keep her cool, if only to be an example to the fool next to her.

She yawned, shaking out her body in the process. A few Jolteon needles still stuck out from her neck, but she calmed them back into the dense yellow fur. At least she looked a little more composed now, much better than the shaking leaf next to her.

"Relax, what could he do? We'll just tell him that we messed up the coordinates a little. A tiny mistake, y'know? He'll forgive us. Besides, if he doesn't, then I'll get to defeat him a bit ahead of schedule." She grinned, her Jolteon spikes bristling. Confidence swirled about her which only made her look scarier. The man scooted over an inch, averting his eyes from hers.

"Watch were you point those things." He brushed off one of the spikes that had nearly pierced his black jacket. Lauren could sense his discomfort and smiled, bristling out just slightly more. She could hear the man's heart beat quicken. Why hadn't she figured out this earlier? Playing with the humans was so much _fun_.

"Sorry," she lied, though the man seemed to buy it as she lowered her spikes down, calming them back against her fur. "You _will _join me if he does get angry with us, correct?" Lauren asked carefully, making sure the pilot couldn't hear.

"Yes, and if he turns me into a combiomorph then all the better and blah blah blah… I get it, alright?" he sounded a little annoyed. Lauren shrugged, just because she'd been reassuring herself about the plan every five seconds or so didn't mean anything!

"Good." The rotor blades suddenly began to slow down. She peaked out the window again, and the welcome blackness of the surrounding forest greeted her eyes. She could feel gravity rushing up at her, and her Vaporeon tail hovered an inch or so in the air. Her senses went on full alert as the noise made the world's noise disappear. "Because here we go."

They landed.

**Back in Kyogre's cave…**

We were sitting around for about two hours before finally, and I mean finally, Kyogre's groans filled the cavern as he woke up. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open. "Ouch…" he mumbled drunkenly, submerging himself briefly in the dark water. He shot back up quickly, the cold water jarring him awake. He whirled in a tight circle, taking in all of us quickly. A scowl stretched across his scarred face. "What are _you_ pests still doing here? Isn't beating me enough!?" he growled angrily, thrashing in the water.

Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Seth jump up from where he was talking with Rachel, ready to attack. He growled lowly, my ears could only barely pick up the guttural sound.

"Shhh…" Reo prompted, standing up professionally. He made a motion with his hand for Seth to sit down. Seth refused with a violent shake of his head. Reo frowned. "Treecko," he said, reaching his arm towards Seth. He let out a sharp squeak as he was lifted into the air, but immediately stopped at a scowl from Reo. He was lifted up all the way to the ceiling before Reo pushed him softly backwards against the wall. He settled him on a small cliff before loosening his control. "Good." He smiled. "Now stay." Seth rolled his eyes.

"Kyogre," Reo announced as he turned on his ankle, "We wish for no further harm, please." Her performed an awkward bow. Kyogre growled.

"State your business," he said roughly.

"We only want for you to come with us to help fight against the evil force that is Team Blasters."

"And if I refuse?"

"We will have to beat you senseless until you accept." He cracked a smile yet remained in complete composure.

Kyogre snorted. "Not much choice in you people." He laughed.

"They are an inhumane society-absolutely horrible people. They can't go on. They nearly killed my dear friend Mariner in the process of one of their crazy experiments!" Kyogre laughed even louder at this.

"The combiomorphs! Of course! That's what you want my help for...though I highly doubt they'll ever even _try_ to get me. I can hide quite easily in these seas." He smirked. "They are mine, after all." He splashed water at us gently with a giant flipper to demonstrate his point. It still felt like a waterfall though.

"Yes, we know. You already told us! But how can you be so heartless? Surely you must care about the other Pokemon!" Reo spread his arms, a picture of sadness coming over him like he'd rehearsed for this moment.

"Try some other time." He grimaced. "Because you and your group have about three minutes to leave this cave." I looked at him in confusion and Reo started to ask something, but just as he did, Kyogre leaped into the air, careening into the wall. The cave shuddered as an ear splitting sound shot through my ears. I yelped in surprise, diving for the ground.

Cracking filled the cave; loud unharmonious and truly evil tones to my ears. Kyogre bellowed a laugh and I heard a mighty splash of water. I risked a look up to see both rocks falling down from over head and a wall of water heading for me mercilessly.

"Run Celli!" I felt something slam into my shoulder; turning in surprise I saw a giant boulder right next to me, crumbled at the bottom from where it hit my shoulder. I didn't need any more warning. I turned and ran and my paws were immediately smacked out from under me, water consuming me. It carried me faster, I didn't dare open my eyes.

I slammed against the wall of the cave, all my breath crushed out of me. The water fell back and dropped me from its grasp. Pain filled me as I hit the ground running. Rachel waited for me by the exit and Seth ran beside me. He'd rode the wave back to level ground.

"Don't you want to stay and watch?" Kyogre asked manically, jumping up again. I dove through the exit and dashed through the stone corridor.

"We have to hurry!" I cried, scooping Seth from where he was trailing behind. I threw him on my back and he helped Rachel up as well. I could see the others now, though my night vision was blurring from the pain. Moments later, the cave trembled around us and rocks free fell from the ceiling.

"Run faster, Celli!" Rachel prompted. "We're almost halfway there!" Hmm…I thought it took an hour to get down there. I slowed down a little, considering it.

"Focus!" Seth snapped in a deep voice. I cried out in surprise. Since when did Seth talk like that? I heard Rachel yelp as well. I zipped through the tunnel. Suddenly, another tremor shook the cave. Bigger rocks began to fall down. I jumped, dodged and zig-zagged my way around them, but they were steadily getting too big.

"One more turn, Celli! Then we'll…huh!?" Rachel gasped. "Seth!" she cried out, I felt her shifting her weight on my back. "What's wrong with you???"

"N-nothing," the low voice said, changing even as he spoke. I felt sharp quivers on my back. Then, another shudder fell through the tunnel. I turned the last corner and could see a speck of light in the distance. My friends were gathered just outside it. Then, just as suddenly as Kyogre's tremors, blinding light filled the cave.

"Ack!" I yelped, screeching to a halt. I spun on the slick cave bottom, almost flipping head over heels. My two passengers launched from my back, the glow seeming to move with them. I got to my feet steadily and looked at the light curiously. "What the…" I wondered aloud. Then the light was gone.

"Seth! Are you okay?" Rachel's concerned cry echoed in the cave.

"Yeah," Seth answered; his voice like nothing I'd ever heard before. "Better than ever." I ran for them and, as I got closer, the image became crisper in my sight. I gasped when I saw Seth.

"You…you…"

"Evolved," he finished with a smile. His new Grovyle features were amazing, but my night vision could only tell me so much. I couldn't wait to get out in the sunlight and see this for real. If it was still sunny outside, of course. It was probably well into the night by now. Oh well, I'd just have to wait until tomorrow.

If we _did_ make it out.

Another tremor shook the cave.


	51. The War Begins

**A/N:** Thank you to Skyline Stanza (^.^), poopfartbutts, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, xcandle_x, srgeman, Sanablades, and ShiningCalvin for reviewing! Sorry it took so long! I'll try to be more regular with updates! Hm, I wonder how many collective times I've said this and it turn about to be a lie…? Oh well, let's up this one's no lie. Enjoy!

Chapter 51: The War Begins

"Move!" I called as I nudged Seth and Rachel in the side. The ceiling was shaking rapidly and little rocks began to pour down on us. I positioned myself so that I'd get the worst of it and they'd be able to escape. Seth sprung to his feet swiftly, going much faster now that he was in his new form. He grabbed Rachel and rocketed towards the exit of the cave. I took off not too long after he did.

Behind me, I heard Kyogre's crazed laugh echoing through the many small corridors of the cave. Then another shockwave from his splashing wreaked havoc on the cave. My breath caught in my throat as a giant cracking sound resounded above me. I ran faster than normal, Extremespeed taking over my senses. I didn't stop until the welcome light of the moon filled my eyes and I skidded to a stop in front of the others.

I turned quickly as a final _CRACK!_ filled the clearing. A rock had fallen in the cave, but not just any rock, it was a rock big enough to block the entire entrance. Even now, a thunderous rumbled came up through my paws and I found myself slowly shuffling backwards as the clearing began to shake vigorously, almost like an earthquake. The cave was roaring now and caving in on itself.

Seth, who'd come out before me was awestruck. The others were too, but he seemed doubly so. Maybe it was his new body adding to it, maybe something else. Within minutes, the cave was flattened, nothing left of it but a huge pile of rubble littering the ground. Behind the remnants, something so shocking that I couldn't breathe for a moment came into view.

Behind that rocky cave was a gigantic bay, sparkling in the moonlight. It stretched for as far as my eyes could see, all of it spotless, completely untouched by human hands.

"That's amazing," Timothy said quietly, taking a few steps towards it. He scowled when the pain of walking made him fall backwards. His Rhydon caught him before he could hit the ground and hurt himself further. Ironhead got down so that he could climb onto his back, then went towards the beach.

I followed after with everyone else. The soft thrum of the waves calmed me and I smiled as my paws sunk into the clean sand. I sighed and dropped down on the fine grained sand, rolling onto my back. Above me, the warm glow of the moon cast its shadow across our little beach, drawing me closer to a strange euphoria gathering deeply within me.

"It's nice, isn't it?" said a voice beside me. I turned to see Gregor sitting there, his eyes on the sky.

"Yeah," I agreed softly.

"Who would've thought Kyogre's cave was guarding such a beautiful place? You wouldn't think beauty traveled so close to evil," he added almost silently, his eyes wide with wonder. I was becoming drowsy, this place was amazing, a well-deserved place for all of us to rest and get our energy back.

"Kyogre wasn't evil," I said in reply with a yawn, "Well not always anyway…" Gregor looked over to me curiously.

"How would you know?" he asked.

"No one's always evil," I answered, "I sort of hope he's okay even though his cave was caved in." Gregor nodded.

"As long as he doesn't attack us again, I think it'll be alright."

"Yeah," I said and rolled away from him. "Good night," I mumbled. A roar came in reply.

"GOOD NIGHT!" everyone said at once. I smirked. It was fun to travel with these guys.

Not ten minutes later, everyone was fast asleep.

* * *

"Now remember what I told you," Lauren said as she tried to get up in the cramped space of the helicopter. "Wait for the right moment. Don't attack too soon and make sure you're ready to become a combiomorph." Mr. Trist nodded and rolled his eyes. Lauren really was going crazy about this. He thought that this was around the seventh time she'd repeated herself now.

"This way!" one of the pilots called as he motioned towards the door he held open. Lauren looked to it curiously, wondering if Keith's smiling face would be there waiting for them. "Come on, I haven't got all day," the pilot persisted. Lauren felt her spikes raise in a flash of annoyance, but set them down as she made her way out the door. She turned to the pilot.

"You've been very kind, thank you, for flying us," she said with faux gratitude, already setting the scene for Keith. The pilot shoved her out and she landed softly on the ground. "Thanks a ton!" she called to him politely.

Mr. Trist whispered in her ear, a hard task considering the noise of the helicopter, "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Follow my lead," Lauren whisper…er…yelled quietly. Mr. Trist nodded, yet he was still unsure.

"Whatever," the pilot said and closed the door. Moments later, their ears were met only by silence as the helicopter left. Lauren scowled. The silence after leaving a helicopter is always deafening. She slowly began walking across the landing dock, getting over the silence quickly. Mr. Trist followed behind her and they talked over strategy as they walked.

When they made it to the end of the deck, there was Keith standing there, just as smiley as ever. His face looked pinch, like he was forcing the smile. When he saw them, his expression stayed fix. Behind him, a few grunts stood in their usual security formation around him. Lauren stopped a yard away from him.

"What? No 'hi. How are you?' Aren't you supposed to be my _guardian_ or something now?" Lauren asked with a short laugh. Keith continued staring.

"Boss?" he asked and Lauren used her Vaporeon tail to hit him on the foot.

"Not your boss," she signaled quietly with her hands behind her back.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Mr. Trist said.

"Sorry for what?" asked at last, looking at him expectantly.

"You can shut up now…" Lauren said in a soft sing-song voice. Keith ignored her.

"I know what you're sorry for," Keith said, holding his Alakazam paw up to silence him. Lauren was sure he was about to spoil the plan. Why did she ever trust him? "You're sorry for missing the targets, am I right?" he didn't give a chance to answer, "Of course I'm right, I'm always right, you know." He turned towards Lauren. "Now, for you."

"Me? What'd I do?" she asked innocently. Keith glared at her.

"You missed," he said simply.

"Yeah, you already said that…" she mumbled.

"You missed," he said again.

"Yeah….can you get on with it?" she asked, examining her nails out of boredom.

"You MISSED!" he yelled, taking a small step forward.

"What movie did you come from? Only fakes fight by starting slow. Someone's been watching too much tv…" she sang.

"I could've killed you, Lauren, I was training you to take…my…place," he said like it was painful, "And then you fail on an assignment this simple!? I didn't train you for failure! And, now, now I know you're against me. And my enemies…" he said with a strange laugh, "They don't live long Lauren, they really don't."

"Well, then, Mr. Keith, it seems that you have forgotten the first rule of villainy." A blank look crossed his face and Lauren rolled her eyes. "Never talk to the hero before performing an evil act on them." Keith was stunned for a moment and Lauren used that time to turn it against him- another law of villainy.

She jumped into the air, twirling as she rose. A bright light surrounded her as she began her transformation. Mr. Trist was awed by the sparkling orb that was Lauren. She transformed from a human to a four-legged Pokemon quickly and the light began to dim. She landed in front of him smoothly, electricity blasting off of her in every direction.

She was a Jolteon now, and she was dangerous. She rammed Keith just in time for him to yell, "Grunts! Attack!" A troop of grunts ran up from behind him and blocked Lauren's attack. Mr. Trist came up and started punching them away whilist Lauren continually shot electricity from her body.

"You can't run, Keith!" she roared, "You can't hide either!" she added as a side-note and laughed. She fried grunt after grunt. She knew none of this would be a problem until he pulled out the heavy artillery, combiomorphs still on his side.

She fought through the last of the grunts to see Keith standing there, all smiles. "This is over," Lauren said and launched herself at him.

* * *

As they fought, in another part of the world, the sun was rising about an hour before it would at Team Blasters HQ.

I yawned hugely as the sun started getting into my eyes. "Morning already?" I asked loosely.

"Yep!" Rain said, running over to me. "Up and at 'em!"

"Since when have you been a morning person?" I asked as I forced myself up. I stretched much like a cat would and looked to her expectantly, my big, furry head tilted to the side.

"Reo has a proposal for what to do next! He says he won't tell until everyone's up," she said.

"Okay, okay," I said and heaved myself over to the Abra. The beach was just as beautiful in the sunlight and I felt a deep happiness as I sat down in our little group, the last to arrive it seemed. "So, you know what to do now?" I asked Reo.

"Yes, we have to go back to the mainland," he said. "I have received information from a contact, and the war is imminent, we must leave immediately." I nodded.

"I don't think we ever agreed we wanted part in the war," I said, and a few from my group nodded.

"Are you saying you want the abuse to continue?" Reo countered.

"Well, no, but, we sort of have our own concerns," I muttered quietly.

"Like getting out of here," Rachel put in from where she was standing next to Seth in all his newly evolved glory. Reo scowled.

"All you care about is yourselves," he claimed. I started to protest, but his claim was true. I shut my mouth and dipped my head. He was right. "I shouldn't have messed with you all, you don't care about countless humans and Pokemon getting killed!" He began to storm off. I made an minute decision and raced after him.

"We'll help," I said.

"That was so quick, I can't say I trust you on that," he said, his back to me. "Instant decisions never work out well."

"No, really!" I said, rounding on him. "Don't go!" He looked me straight in the eyes.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Yes," said someone else. I looked over to see Gregor there. "She's sure, and we're all sure." He gave a short laugh. "Celli has a thing for fast decisions, but she's not always wrong." Reo smiled.

"Thank you, guys," he said. Was that a tear in his eye?

**A/N 2:** Sorry again for taking so long, I hope it was worth it. Also, for those of you who are Warriors fans, please check out my website! It can be found on my profile. Well, bye for now!

Pika!


	52. The Story so Far

**A/N:** I want you all to know…THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER. I'm writing this because I realize I haven't been updating a lot and, thus, some of you have forgotten the story. Okay…many of you… Well, I'm going to try my best to fix that by making this here summary chapter. It will be followed up soon by an actual chapter that I hope will be easier to understand after you see the whole story in summary.

**Summary Chapter One:**

**Current Cast of Characters:**

Main Group:

Celli. Main character. Arcanine.

Rachel. Main character. Wartortle.

Gregor. Main character. Pidgeot.

Rain. Submitted character. Piplup.

Seth. Submitted character. Grovyle.

Reo. Submitted character. Abra.

Timothy. Secondary character. Human. Team (As known): Aggron (Ironhead), and Combusken (Blaze. Submitted character).

Not Active at the Moment:

Marius. Submitted character. Currently in medical care. Team (as known): Epi (Stararaptor-deceased-), Cosette (Absol-deceased-), and Tyrantar (Jerome).

Team Blasters (For AND against their cause)

Lauren. Secondary character. Combiomorph of Jolteon and Vaporeon. Against Team Blasters.

Mr. Trist. Secondary character. Was assigned to Lauren to be her partner by Keith when they were assigned to blow up Celli and co. Human. Against Team Blasters.

Keith. Leader of Team Blasters. Combiomorph of Espeon and Alakazam. For Team Blasters.

Combiomorph Army

Mariner. Leader of Combio Army. Combiomorph of Krabby and Mew.

Azure. Almost nonexistent character. Tailow.

**Important Definitions**

Combiomorph: A combination of two Pokemon's DNA with a human base. The resultant is a creature with at least two human features and everything else the features of the Pokemon they were combined with. Team Blasters captures humans and Pokemon in order to use the DNA to turn the humans into combios. Or, they use it as means of punishment to their members. (Lauren was transformed because she couldn't capture her quarry)

Team Blasters: The evil team in Pokemon Periwinkle. They seek control of the world by threatening transformation into combiomorphs and by the brute strength of their experiments.

Pokemon Periwinkle: A game that five children won and then were sucked into the game soon after starting it. A natural disatster hit at the exact moment. (Those affected: Celli, Rachel, Gregor, Rain, and Volt-supposedly deceased-)

**The Story**

In the beginning of the story, Celli, Rachel, and Gregor were captured by Team Blasters and were then helped to escape by a Vulpix named Rin. Once she found out they had been human, she ran away, never to be seen again (so far). Soon afterwards, they became lost in the forest and met a man named Marius. A peace loving man who wanted to help them. He ended up sticking with the group even after helping them out.

While they were still in the forest though, they were attacked by Team Blasters who almost killed the newly evolved Gregor. It ended with a very convincing face off where Marius's Stararaptor Epionne died. Team Blasters left after Celli defeated them, but Marius was devastated.

Later, once they arrived in Oldale, they found a tribe of Lotad seeking help. They'd seen someone fall into the water! Striking to the rescue, the team immediately shot off in order to help. Celli, being her heroically not thinking self launched into the water a swam despite the type difficulty (water and fire don't mix). She found a water type not moving at the bottom, as well as another Pokemon. A grass-type of all things. She blacked out before she could help. Rachel, still a Squirtle, saved all three of them. The water-type was a Piplup named Rain, the grass-type a Treecko named Seth. They were all rushed towards the Pokemon center in Petalburg.

They all heal and soon find out that Rain is also from outside this world and that she has the key to get them out. It is a small feather, though she doesn't understand much about it. Seth claims that he'd tried to help her, but forgotten of his own disability to swim. After everyone's better, they head for the next forest.

When they first get in, the secret about Marius is revealed and an epic battle commences. He was a member of Team Blasters, and his job was to track the team down. Marius uses his Tyranitar for the first time and the entire team gets in on the action. At the end, Cosette the Absol has died and there is a collection of injuries. Celli and Marius talk and Marius officially dumps Team Blasters for good. It is then that Mew visits Celli and she turns back into her human self within the game. They continue on their way through the forest, everything much calmer. Also while they are there, they meet up with Timothy, the boy who had been chased by cops when Celli first went to Littleroot. He denounces his evil ways as well.

In Rustboro, they challenge the gym leader and are winning until Nosepass uses a revolutionary (no doubt Team Blasters induced) Earthquake on Rain. Acting on impulse as always, Celli leaps forth as a glow surrounds her and she turns into an Arcanine. She saves Rain at the expense of her own life. Gregor is given Rare Candies to fly down into the deep crevice made by the Earthquake and try to haul them out, but he's too late.

Mew visits Celli again and tells her she can be reborn again into another Pokemon's body. The catch is, she won't have any memory unless someone mentions something of her past life to her. The next thing she knows, she's a Poochyena under the watchful eye of Team Blasters escapee Sara. A combiomorph of a Swellow and a Wurmple. She goes out to get berries like she does every day and Celli gets captured by Timothy of all people.

Timothy takes his catch back to his friends and shows off his new Pokemon. Nothing is said about the old Celli. Later, when they go out on the beach to try and find a ferry, an old man is being attacked by Team Blaster's Mightyena. Still acting on impulse, Celli in Poochyena form runs out and attacks the Mightyena, trying to save the man. One of her friends comes up during the battle and says something about the old Celli.

Instinct takes over her and she changes from Poochyena to Arcanine as she is overwhelmed with memories. After beating the Mightyena, she takes off into the forest without thinking because she is so overwhelmed. She goes too fast now that she is an Arcanine that her friends can't keep up. She soon runs all the way to Team Blasters HQ (Just behind Petalburg) without knowing it. Exhausted, she is easily captured and placed into a solitary confinement room where shockers are implanted into her and she comes back to consciousness eventually with evil leader Keith standing in front of her.

It's not long before she finds out what the shockers do and she is forced to follow all commands. She is soon given the task of finding wild Pokemon to use for experiments. She goes out with Lauren while she is still in human form. Instead of finding wild Pokemon, Celli finds her friends and a battle commences where Lauren uses the three lake Pokemon as her main offense.

Milotic, the guardian of the lake trio shows up and halts everything. She tells her story and takes the trio back to where they rightfully belong. It's one step towards victory against Team Blasters. A fire had started during the battle and Celli had been stuck under a fallen tree after Crimson the Dragonair had _helped_ her relieve herself of the implants. She had broken her leg and Rachel had helped her back to the main battle. That was when Milotic showed up. Milotic healed Celli's leg while she was there. When she left, Lauren was defeated and ran back to HQ where she was punished thoroughly.

The team left the forest and went back to their journey. Meanwhile, Lauren was turned into a combiomorph and became greatly against Team Blasters. Keith eventually chose her as his apprentice because he thought she'd be a good leader, but more on that later.

Celli and co. obtain a ship to take them to Dewford. Seth tells half his story and later, when Celli goes to check on the captain, the ship explodes due to flammable gas. This happens about 500 feet from shore. Celli grabs whoever can't save him/herself and launches into the water only to find herself suddenly moving above the water at cosmic speeds. This is the work of Reo the Abra who saved them all from a watery grave. They check in at the hotel and the next day is spent getting ready for a gym battle. They also go to the nearby cave where the meet Mariner the combiomorph and his girlfriend (deceased now). He tells them of the horrible reality of combios and tries to get them to join his army. The team thinks he's crazy. Rachel evolves while training and they save a hurt Marshstomp.

Reo had found a map the night they came to Dewford, and is trying to decipher while they are out training. Rachel evolves during this time. The next day, they fight the gym leader and win. Meanwhile, Lauren and her partner Mr. Trist are assigned to blow up Dewford with a missile. This is her first assignment since she'd been transformed and taken under the wing of Keith. She purposefully misses the island and hits a nearby mountain. The results are still devastating.

As it turns out, the map was a letter to Reo from Mariner about how they needed help with find Kyogre. The team find this out the morning of their gym battle. The missile hits directly after the battle and everything goes nuts. Marius ends up going to the hospital while everyone else tries to recover. Lauren and Mr. Trist are airlifted back to base.

Later, they go to try and get Kyogre's help, but he refuses and tries to kill them…twice. Seth evolves. They escape his cave just in time for it to crumble and reveal a massive beach. They agree to fight Team Blasters at long last.

Meanwhile, the war is already getting started at Team Blasters HQ with Lauren immediately going out of her way to try and put Keith out of business. The question is…once Lauren's in power, how will she react?

Meanwhile again, Mariner is leading his troops toward the HQ.

This story isn't even halfway done yet. Stay tuned for more!

**A/N 2: **So, I leave with you this fully up to date summary of what has happened over these last 154 pages. I hope you enjoyed the summary, and please know, I am in the process of writing the next chapter. I'm terribly sorry that I even had to put this up! If I'd kept regular, then…well the past is the past, and that's that. I hope that you all are nice and caught up now.


	53. The Descendant of Evil

**A/N: **Thank you to GalacticFTW, NewProphecy, ShiningCalvin, fronteir399, srgeman, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Debbie Aaron Primal, Sanablades, Sailor Nibaru, and Suicune lord for reviewing! Now to get us moving again! This one is quite the dramatic chapter as it gets towards the end, and one of my longer ones. About 2700 words. I seriously need to run a poll on chapter length. I was about to make this one longer, but I figured it was long enough already.

Enjoy!

Chapter 52: Descendant of Evil

"First matter of discussion," Reo said, acting all business-like as he strode in front of us. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to be condescending. I rolled my eyes but allowed him to continue. Why again must a six foot tall Arcanine listen to a tiny Abra? "We have to get back to Petalburg." Seth frowned.

"Not by boat…" he whispered over and over again almost like a nervous tic. "PLEASE not by boat." His eyes were wide and he was rocking side to side a bit. He had good reason to be so scared though, so I didn't mention anything.

Not too long ago, and I've already written about this, we had been on a boat destined for the beautiful (now devastated) Dewford Island. There had been a gas leak and guess what fire breathing monster happened to be standing within ten feet of it. Yup. Yours truly. Short story, the boat went kablooey with all of us still on board. Seth was one of the first ones hurt in that incident, and most badly. He didn't want to risk another accident.

"We will be taking the Hoenn Cruise Liner…" that was all Reo could get out before Seth toppled over. Cruise liner or not, it was still a boat. And from the looks of things, our little Grovyle had developed a sudden fear of the water. I had to stifle a laugh.

Rachel streaked over to him and pulled him to his feet. She smoothed out his scales briefly and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and nodded. One thing that can't be denied: my friends had changed…A LOT. If given the choice, I think they would refuse to return home. Home seemed so far away now…so far that we'd all forgotten about it. Almost all of us anyway. Rain, the fourth of the five of us to enter the game, still seemed persistent on returning. Maybe she wanted her boyfriend back. The one who'd died out here. I didn't think I'd ever know.

"Well, if that's quite enough…" Reo said, tapping his foot impatiently, "We will be taking the Hoenn Cruise Liner to Petalburg. It stops off in the islands around Dewford, so that will be our chance." Timothy raised a finger. I could see the poke translator in his ear.

"Question," he said, "Wouldn't they know about the whole Dewford being destroyed with an atomic bomb?"

"First," Reo began, "it was a missile, not an atomic bomb. Second, not everything was destroyed. A lot of places were flooded or got pretty badly bruised, but there are still a few islands that have survived. We will go to one of those. My resources tell me the boat will be here at 5." My jaw dropped.

"It's four-thirty," I said, reading the sky.

"My point exactly. We slept too long. It is time to go." Reo then turned away without waiting for our approval and marched off. I glanced at the others uneasily, but they all stared at me questioningly. Even Timothy. It was almost like I was their leader. That didn't make me feel better, in fact, I felt worse. Especially if any of them died in combat, I'd never feel okay with this.

"Let's go," I said and started forward…towards the sea where Reo was going. What on Hoenn could his plan be? The group walked behind me in unison. Reo turned at the very edge of the water and watched us coming.

"Rachel!" he called. She looked to me first and I nodded. She hurried over there with speed and grace you wouldn't expect a Wartortle to have. I expected no less from her. "I need you to give me a ride over to that island over there. It's one of the destinations." He pointed out across the sea where I could barely see the tips of palm trees and a beach touching the horizon. Rachel looked at him like he was crazy.

"What about the rest of us?" I demanded, taking a step forward. Reo grinned.

"Have you forgotten my power?" he asked as Rachel jumped in the water with an annoyed look on her face.

"I'll keep him in order, Celli," Rachel said as Reo sat down on her turtle-shelled back.

"I know you will," I replied. I have to say, I'd totally forgotten about this power of his. I couldn't remember him ever displaying much of a power whatsoever. Besides not sleeping for the normal 20 hours a day that Abra are supposed to sleep, there was nothing. I didn't see how insomnia was going to help us. I frowned as I watched them fading into the distance.

* * *

As soon as Lauren had moved to attack Keith, she found herself suspended in midair, completely frozen in motion. She was suddenly changing back to normal form, but not by her own power. It was like a greater power had taken over her, and was sapping her of all her strength. The glow didn't even surround her as she changed. She was forced back into combiomorph form and she dropped to the ground in a heap.

The breath _whooshed_ out of her when she hit the floor and she groaned, unable to move herself back into an upright position. She couldn't even move her head. "What did you…do?" she gasped, straining her eyes to look up at him. Keith lowered himself to her level and set his hand on her side. He rolled her so that she was lying on her back. He could see fear in her eyes now. Genuine fear. Lauren stared at him, wishing for adrenaline, help, anything.

"I've two parts psychic, my dear, I can do anything," he answered. He leaned closer. "Anything." His eyes flashed to purple and suddenly Lauren was lifted from the ground, hover in midair with her Vaporeon tail still on the ground. Keith moved her into a standing position and he stood up with her, his eyes still purple. "Do you remember when you were weak, dear? Just one of my human admins?" Lauren nodded.

"Mr. Trist!" she tried to call but it came out as a squeak.

"Ah, yes, dear old Mr. Trist," Keith said with a nod. "Bring him!" he called politely to the grunts. They separated as two muscled men dragged Mr. Trist through the crowd. He looked bloodied and beaten. Lauren almost threw up on the spot from how he looked. "You were about to have a promotion, you know."

"I know," Mr. Trist replied, "But this isn't right! It's horrible what you're doing!" Lauren was amazed, so he still stood by what she had told him! She smiled at him, grateful to know he hadn't switched sides despite being beat up.

"How is it horrible? I'm making the world better. Wouldn't it be safer, after all, if every human was a combio?" he asked sincerely. Mr. Trist and Lauren both stared at him.

"Absolutely not!" Lauren yelped, suddenly gaining strength. "You're killing Pokemon just to make killing machines to take over the world and deem it as your own! Combios aren't natural, they shouldn't exist!" She took a step towards Keith but suddenly the purple shade to his eyes flashed away and she toppled back to the floor.

"What is wrong with that?" he asked. "The world will be better under my command, stronger. No one would be able to defy me!" His eyes grew purple again and Lauren was lifted from the ground and high into the air. "Perhaps, Lauren, you really have forgotten how weak you were. Now you will meet a fate worse than death!" Lauren hovered above them, shaking and trembling. A horrible scream came from her.

The yellow fur on her arm zipped away like a tiny fire on her arm. The needles shot up in flames and were yanked out. She screamed loudly, struggling to break free. "Mr. Trist!" she screeched in agony. "Stop him!" He didn't need to be told twice.

Mr. Trist yanked out of the men's arms by bowling them over with his legs. Keith didn't even notice him when he sprang- he was too busy laughing as his eyes changed from color to color. Mr. Trist plowed into him, knocking him to the ground. Lauren was immediately released from the hold and dropped from the sky. Mr. Trist jumped up and streaked over and caught her in midair. She had changed a lot, and seemed heavily burnt. The thing that worried him though, was that she was losing consciousness. Fast.

"Thank…you," she mumbled incoherently. Her vision was blurry and she was in so much pain, any slight movement caused her to shriek.

"Hold on, Lauren!" Mr. Trist ordered, holding her in his arms. He looked back to see several grunts running toward him and a very angry Keith giving orders. Making a quick decision, he held her close to him and ran. He ran as fast as he could. He had to get away! Lauren's survival depended on it.

Despite her condition, memories began creeping up on Lauren, drowning her in remembrance. Ever since she'd joined Team Blasters, she hadn't been able to remember a moment of her past, but now, as Mr. Trist raced with her through the dark forest surrounding, they came back full force.

* * *

"_Mommy? Where are we going?" I asked, peeking my head around the driver's seat in order to see her better. She didn't usually drive, daddy always did. But now he was a lump in the passenger's seat. I figured he was sleeping. "Is it somewhere fun!?"_

_Mommy steered in and out of traffic expertly, yet franticly. "Listen, Lauren, honey, you have to behave and listen to everything Mommy tells you on this trip, okay?" She said this in a rushed, desperate tone. I couldn't tell why._

"_Alright, Mommy. What happened?" I asked curiously, sticking my head around further._

"_I'll tell you, but please don't do that, you're giving me a heart attack!" I nodded and pulled myself back into my seat, the seat belt tight around me."Good girl. Now you know how we experiment a lot, right?" she asked._

"_Uh-huh," I answered, my head cocked to the side. _

"_Well, we decided we'd done enough experimentation and that it was about time we tested it out. Your dad volunteered to be the first one to use it. This formula, honey, will make a person unmatchably strong, and give them abilities beyond their wildest dreams. The DNA of two Pokemon are gathered together, and mixed up. It won't affect physical appearance, mind you, but it will give power beyond your wildest imagination. Your father couldn't wait to see if it worked, so he tried it." _

_I looked over at dad. I could hear strange sounds coming from him now, and it almost looked like his skin was changing color. I was scared for a moment, but only a second, because I was used to strange occurrences in my house. Being the child of two scientists will do that to you._

"_As you can see, it didn't turn out so well. We're going to the hospital," she said plainly, patting my dad's hand. It seemed more golden than before. My eyes went wide._

"_Will he be okay?" I asked. Mother didn't answer. That was answer enough for me. "No!" I cried and my mother suddenly swerved and regain control of the car._

"_Please be calm, honey," she ordered quietly, keeping full attention on the road._

"_Calm…" as strange voice echoed. I jumped when I heard it. Dad had fixed himself upright in his seat and was now staring at mother with something like pure hatred. His face was covered in a strange purple fur and his eyes were a deep blue. I saw something like a forked tail slide behind the seat and snap back up. I almost yelled in terror. His arms were now roughly scaled much of his body retained the same scales. On his ears, a blue jewel rested in the center of his forehead and two tufted ears tipped his head. He looked at me and I slunk away, trying to hide in the car's shadows._

"_I can feel your fear," he said, staring at me. He looked at mom. "Especially yours," he growled. "How dare you take me to the hospital!" he roared. "Do you have any idea what would happen?" Mother bit her lip and shook her head, staring at the road. "Answer me!" he roared._

"_I don't!" she yelped back. "What's wrong with you!?"_

"_What's wrong with me?" he asked. "Hah! I'm perfect. And I'm stronger than you can imagine. The better question is, what's wrong with you?" His eyes suddenly glowed dark purple as the steering wheel was yanked from her grasp. He turned it sharply with his mind and we were suddenly on a crash course with a tree. Mother screamed as she fought for the wheel. I dug into my seat, my teeth clenched. Suddenly, I was ripped from my seat and zipped straight through my seat so that I was behind the care. I screamed in confusion. Was I a ghost already? When I looked over and saw dad standing next to me, his eyes flashing colors, I didn't need to be answered._

_With a resounding crunch, the car rammed the tree at full speed almost bringing it down. "Mom!" I shrieked and fell to my knees on the curbside road. Tears burst from my eyes. "How could you dad? How could you!?" Dad also dropped to the ground, his eyes empty._

"_What have I done?" he asked and turned to me. "Promise to keep me under control. Promise to never let me lose it again." I didn't answer him, but I knew in my heart that if he ever did something like that again, it would be the last thing he did._

_I was still crying when the wail of sirens picked up behind us._

* * *

Lauren shot back into wakefulness. She was surprised when she saw Mr. Trist carrying her, but she was even more surprised to see they weren't captured. "Oh, good," he said, "You're awake." He stopped running and sat her down against a tree. She didn't hear anyone pursuing.

"Look, Mr. Trist, I need to tell you something," she said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Go ahead," he said, panting.

"Keith is my father," she answered. His eyes suddenly began to tear up, fogging his vision. He moved closer to her, and she allowed it.

"I'm so sorry for you, Lauren," he said, a few tears coming down. She felt them sliding down her face as well.

"He killed my mom," she said, rushing into him. She hugged him, feeling his welcome warmth as comfort.

"That's horrible, Lauren," he said, holding her tightly. Lauren buried her head into his shoulder, crying. She tried to muffle them, but it wasn't working. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," he said.

"Thank you," she replied, pulling away so that she could look into his eyes. "Mr. Trist, no one has ever given me as much comfort as you have now." He looked down at her, smiling. He didn't care she was a freak. Even a burnt-out freak. She was beautiful, in her own way. Mr. Trist valued that highly.

Lauren leaned in and closed her eyes.

Mr. Trist followed suit, his hand reaching behind her back.

They leaned closer, both of them holding the other tight.

They kissed.

Not long after, Lauren pulled away, her eyes huge and confused. "I'm sorry," she said, turning away, tears flooding her.

"Why?" Mr. Trist asked, moving over to join her.

"I can't do this," she said and sprinted into the forest. Mr. Trist watched her leave, his hand held in midair, reaching to grab her, but she was long gone.

"Lauren," he said quietly, his eyes getting moist. "Come back. Please." He fell to his knees, his face buried in his hands.

"I've lost her."


	54. Weapons of War

**A/N:** Thank you to all who reviewed!!!! Many things happening in this chapter…Danica belongs to Tigertalon. Enjoy!

Chapter 53: Weapons of War

It's not every day you find out your father's a complete maniac or that he let you watch as he ran your mom straight into a tree. Let's just say…Lauren had family issues, even if she couldn't remember them. But now, another thing had entered her life. Love. The one thing more unpredictable than anything else…the one worst thing to throw in an already horribly thrown off mix. It would be a lie to say that Lauren wasn't going a bit off the deep end…and an even bigger one to say she wasn't actually in love.

Lauren ran through the forest. She dodged stones and trees, swerved and snaked in hard to track maneuvers, and moved like a bird borne on wind. Finally she struck her arm out and caught a tree, using it to swing around and fall to the ground again. She fell to the ground in a pool of tears. What had happened after the crash!? Lauren dug through her memory, trying to find it, but she was met with nothing.

She knew what the cause was. She had let her guard down! Allowed her emotions to show. She should've never kissed Mr. Trist. All it did was distract her from her main goal. There was no time for side plots now. But still, she couldn't find it in her memory. What had happened to her to erase it anyway?

All signs pointed to her father, the evil Keith Reid. Leader of Team Blasters. She was still stunned by the prospect. No wonder he valued her so much, she was his daughter! This brought another wave of tears and she squished herself against the trees, hoping for the merciless bark to wipe them away. Crying would get her nowhere! She screamed into the tree, letting all her emotion out at once.

After a few more screams, she felt much better. She pushed herself away, out of breath. She sat with her hands on her knees, her back against the tree. She tipped her head up, trying to get a look at the darkening sky. The moon was coming out, bright and full tonight. If this was any other time, she would've stayed out to watch its rise and fall through the sky.

Unfortunately, this was not any other time. She lifted herself up away from the tree, beginning to make her way back to where she hoped Mr. Trist still was. She made her way slowly and carefully. She noticed it instantly when a blue object flew past her. She turned to follow it, but it was gone.

Suddenly, it was on her other side. She jumped up, but it was too late. Desperate, she turned in a quick circle and almost ran straight into a Dragonair. "What!?" she yelped, jumping back. She shook herself, quickly getting back under control.

"Hello, little lady," it said, giving a courteous nod. "May I help you?" Lauren stared at it, not sure of what to do.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Why, I am Crimson," she said, bowing, "Helper of the needy and escapee of Team Blasters." Lauren spat.

"I don't need your help, if that's what you're thinking," she said, walking off a few paces. Crimson flew after her easily, surpassing her in less than a quarter of a second.

"Not exactly that," she said, "I sensed something about you. You hate Team Blasters, don't you?"

"Yes, totally," she said, even though that meant she hated her father too. She tried to avoid the ensuing guilt. Crimson nodded, doing a few aerial tricks that seemed more involuntary than anything. Like she was thinking or something.

"Would you mind adding an extra force to your army?" she asked, her eyes lighting up. Lauren looked her up and down. But she was moving so fast, it was hard for her to see her. But the speed was a good thing, and since she was an escapee, she knew she could be trusted. Lauren nodded.

"That kind of help I appreciate," she said and started back towards Mr. Trist. Crimson stifled a laugh.

"He's that way," she said, pointing in the completely opposite direction from which Lauren was going. "I already talked with him."

"Oh" was all Lauren said as she flushed and made her way back, following Crimson.

* * *

"I can't see them anymore!" I yelped, getting as close to the shore as possible without stepping into it. I ignored the small pains from standing on wet sand. I was beginning to get frantic. Rachel had been with me since the beginning, if Reo had just gone and taken off with her…well, I wasn't having that. I reared back on my hind legs, focusing my vision on the island at the edge of the horizon. I balanced precariously on my hind legs, stumbling every few seconds. When I was finally able to stand straight, I saw a small point of blue in the distance…with brown close to it. It was them! They'd made it to the island. I sighed in relief and collapsed back onto four legs. When I turned, I saw Seth standing there with his arms out towards me.

"Um…" he said, and pulled his arms back, hiding them behind him. He began to whistle. Rain was shaking her head.

"Toldya it wouldn't work," she mumbled, smacking herself with a fin. I rolled my eyes. It really would've been a good time to knock me into the water. I was about to say something when I was lifted off my feet- and not the lovey-dovey way either.

I was flying backwards at a hundred miles per hour…it felt like that anyway. The water tried to lap at my feet because I was…hovering over it? I yelped, trying to turn and see what was happening, but some strange force wouldn't allow me too. "Help!" I cried, thrashing my claws around, looking for something to grab hold of. The beach quickly came out of sight- all my friends with it. But, strangely, it was like I could hear them yelling.

"Celli!" one of them yelled. "Calm down!"

"What!?" I shrieked. "How can I be calm? I'm being attacked by something that wants to drown me!" The water remained just below me, but I kept my eyes off of it. I knew that if I looked at it, I'd end up paralyzed- not a good thing when you're rocketing through the air.

"Close your eyes!" whoever it was ordered. I didn't waste time in obeying. Anything to make them happy and me safe. "Gently now," it said more quietly than before, like it was talking to someone else. The fast-moving sensation slowly left me and was replaced by a downward motion. Very gentle and slow, almost relaxing. Well maybe, if I weren't sure that I was being lowered to a death in the water, I'd been relaxed. "You can open your eyes now," it said. Reluctantly, I opened them, and at the same moment, sand met the pads on my paws. I heaved a gigantic sigh when I saw the see laying out in front of me. I'd made it. And I wasn't covered with water.

"How'd I do that!?" I asked excitedly, wondering if it was by my own power. I tried to get myself to float in every way I could think of. I even stood on my tiptoes and got up on my hind legs again. I closed my eyes tight and lifted up my arms. It didn't work. All I did was lose my balance and fall down on my butt. I opened my eyes to see Rachel rolling on the sand, laughing so hard I was sure she was about to throw up. I felt a tinge of pink warm my cheeks in embarrassment. Reo sighed. He glared at Rachel, then at me.

"Can we not get this over with?" he asked, his arms crossed and a frown pasted on his face.

"Oh, sorry," Rachel said, pulling herself to her feet. I padded over to join them, still a bit embarrassed.

"Alright, good," he said, then looked to me. "You got here via my powers." He winked. "I told you that was what I was going to do." I stood there like a drunk idiot, then almost fell over laughing as I remembered the last trip- after the ship wreck.

"At least I didn't faint this time!" I proclaimed, earning a giggle from Rachel and an eye roll from Reo. He concentrated on the beach we'd come from and about five minutes later, Seth had joined us, fully bewildered as he was. Next was Rain. Gregor flew over with Timothy being towed by Reo beneath him. He'd recalled all his Pokemon to make the traveling easier.

Once they'd landed, Reo stood in front of all of us. "Now we wait," he said. "According to my sources, the ship will arrive at six PM tonight. That is only five minutes from now. Everyone needs to get in any way they can. This ship will be Pokemon friendly. Find a human and pretend to follow them into the ship like you belong to them. We will meet together again in the cargo hold." He paused, waiting for the unanimous signal of approval which we gave him. "Good luck to all of you," he said and disappeared into the forest.

"Let's follow him," I said and ran into the forest. The others scattered about. Timothy remained on the beach, Rain with him. I assumed he was going to try and appear to be a rookie trainer who'd gotten mercilessly lost. Good idea on his part. He _was_ mercilessly lost.

I ducked behind a palm tree close to the dock I was sure the boat would come in on and waited.

No sooner had I hid than did I hear the loud, echoing horn that signaled the ship's coming to land. I sucked in a deep breath and sunk to the ground, waiting for the shop to arrive anxiously.

* * *

"Are the troops ready?" A small Kirlia asked as she ran over to her leader. She moved gracefully, as though her feet never touched the ground. She held a clipboard tight against her side. Her leader was going over various exercises with his main group of troops. The ones that would be in the front line. He whispered to one of his helpers to go ahead and lead them in exercises for now then hurried over to the Kirlia.

"The front line is. So are the third, fourth, and fifth," he said, using his pink furred hand to count them off. He was very young in his looks, and the Kirlia had no doubt he was young in age as well. She nodded as he named off the waves. "You have checked the second, yes?" he asked.

"Yes, Master Mariner, they are ready also," she said. Mariner gave a sharp nod.

"Very good," he said, turning around. "Oh!" he said, moving back to face her. "And don't call me Master. I'm just as good as you are," he said, smiling. The smile lit his eyes, and the Kirlia knew he had meant it. "Get ready, we're leaving tonight, and no one's going to stop me."

"And no one will," Kirlia said, mostly to herself. Mariner had run off, probably to make the announcement. Soon they would be leaving the small encampment they'd made in Lilycove City. With an army of three thousand, Kirlia wasn't sure what to expect, but she knew it would come down to strength. They would be outnumbered the moment they arrived. "No leader was ever as involved with his army as he is," she whispered. She began making her way towards the camp's ampitheatre.

* * *

Keith paced in the hallway of Team Blasters HQ, his shoes echoing on the laminated tiles. He had a set frown. A force was coming- he knew it. It would be a large one too. Frankly, he was surprised he'd made it thus far. More than ten thousand combiomorphs filled the halls of his base. Most of them ready to die for their cause. It had been a long, hard time creating them all, but they were to be of last resort. Another some 20, 000 grunts filled the halls as well. Now, he was in the deepest part of the base. The place where the most destructive of weapons were contained- weapons in the form of nearly every legendary in the Pokemon world. And then, there was one final weapon, one of last resort, one that had so much power that she could blow away an entire city in a single move.

Unfortunately, she was a work in progress, and wasn't quite ready yet. She wasn't even going to be ready, supposedly, for another year. It had only recently come to Keith's knowledge that she even existed. As it turned out, she had been in experimentation for several years by his co-founder of Team Blasters: High Commander Danica. Keith had to go on faith that the forces who wanted him dead would not attack just yet. Before he could reach the door to Danica's study, a grunt ran up to him.

"We cannot find them," he reported. Keith nodded; he'd expected as much.

"They'll be back," he answered, then closed his eyes, using a brief future sight attack. He opened them a few minutes later, a grin covering his face. "Very very soon," he added. The grunt looked confused for a second, but still nodded. "Now leave!" he ordered. "This is off limits to all but the admins and the elite."

"Sorry, sir," he said, bowing deeply and swiftly before turning and running back towards the main floor. Keith smirked. The first rule of Team Blasters: Order. He continued on for Danica's study and knocked on her door. "Are you there?" he asked kindly as Danica yanked open the door from the other side.

"Of course, brother, I told you I'd be here," she said, making her way out. Danica had been among Keith's first experiments. After he'd erased Lauren's memories, he'd opened a small lab where his sister joined him. Their parents, only around fifty by then to their thirty, became very concerned when they started becoming so secretive. When they'd been only an inch from discovering their plan, Danica had protected him, and now he couldn't ask for a better partner.

Danica was one of the few combiomorphs who showed close to zero signs of humanity; only the first ones were like that, but Keith deeply regretted using a legendary's DNA when he knew so little about the art of making combiomorphs. She walked on four legs- the legs of Giratina, and had a face resembling the legendary's muzzle. She also had splashes of orange on her and metal bands on her arms and back. Two horns curled out of her head. She was a Giratina/Houndoom combio. "What do you need?" she asked.

"People are going to attack us, Danica, I know it," Keith said, walking into her softly toned room. The walls were a dim gold and they were lined with shelves- many of which the two of them had written themselves. He shook his head, frowning. "I just can't imagine all our work…crumbling into nothing." He gritted his teeth as he fell down into one of Danica's plush red chairs. He held his head in his hands. This was a side of him no one but Danica got to see.

"I know, brother, but it cannot be turned around," she said, sitting in a chair made especially for her deformities. She looked off in silence, her tail moving from side to side occasionally. "You know," she said, finally speaking up, "There are three Pokemon we don't have."

"The lake trio, yes, but what have they got to do with this?" Keith asked. Danica shook her head gently, turning her gaze to the floor.

"Not them!" she said quickly and got up from her chair. She began pacing back and forth across her carpet quickly. "The other three." A look of cluelessness came over Keith's face. It wasn't often that he was dumbfounded, but he couldn't figure out whom she was talking about. "The ones with the most power…" she mumbled, "Time…Space…Power…" Her speed quickened.

Keith shot up from his chair and clapped her on the shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, pulling around in front of her. He stared her in the eyes.

"Why didn't we think of this before, Keith?" she suddenly yelled. "Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus! With them…with them we could control the world!" Keith froze, still staring.

"The…the world?" he said weakly. He imagined the entire world at his command. All the cities renamed…all the people peaceful. Everyone containing so much power within themselves to serve their families and provide their own protection…it would be utopia! And they would all have him to thank…him, and his sister. His face lit up. "We'll be the saviors of the world, Danica!" he cried, smiling.

Danica laughed. "What would you do without me?" she asked playfully. Keith sighed with relief.

"I may have to make you a complete equal to me after this…if it works," Keith mumbled unsurely.

"Wasn't I already?" she asked, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm serious, Danica, how will we get this to work?" Danica was about to speak, but Keith held his hand up. "What if we don't capture them fast enough?"

"We will," she ensured, her eyes gaining a gleam of confidence. "I will oversee it myself." Keith nodded.

"Stay safe," he said as she began to walk towards the door. She was never one to wait. Even when they were kids she was always impatient.

"When don't I?" she said with a smirk. Keith nodded.

"Never."

**A/N 2:** Poll: Who do you think will when the battle? Remember: There are 4 forces. Celli and the gang, Lauren and her group, Mariner's Army, and Team Blasters.

I'd like to make the great announcement that there is now a Pokemon Periwinkle RP site! Everything that happens on the site will be used in future installments of the Pokemon Periwinkle series! So let's just say, you'll have a HUGE hand in the next book in the Periwinkle series. Find the link on my profile!

Pika!


	55. The Cruise Liner

**A/N: **Thank you to poopfartbutts, belhotte, Debbie Aaron Primal, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, Sanablades, NewPhrophecy, ShiningCalvin, and ShadowclawFC for reviewing!!!!!!!! Yay, almost 500 reviews!!!!! Let's see if we can push it over the edge with these next 2 or 3 chapters…

Poll: Am I constant enough with updating? Should I update more? ((It's summer now, so Ican update a TON more))

Oh, and I'm trying something new this chapter, can you tell?

**Chapter 54:** The Cruise Liner

I scrunched down against a palm tree, my belly fur gently caressing the sand beneath me. Slowly, the cruise ship formed a hulking, dark shape against the purple evening sky. Four towers rose on its back, the structures reaching far into the skies. So much so, in fact, I could not see the tips no matter how much I tried. The towers were painted pitch black and faded to red as it rose up through the clouds.

This should've been my first red flag.

The ship crawled to a stop against the port and gave an echoing signal. I flattened my ears against my head in dismay. I couldn't see much of the ship from where I hid, but I knew it was gigantic. You know those air craft carriers from Earth? I have to say, these ships would rival those in size –and win- with ease.

The body of the ship was a metallic grey that sent whatever light hit it out in every direction. It glistened as it rolled its last few feet into port. At either end, a yellow strip faded into red and finally black in a dazzling pattern. The ship was very well-made. It hardly even rose from the water.

I got to my paws quickly and shook myself. If I was going to follow someone in, I had to look presentable- civilized in the least. My fur felt dirty and pretty heavily knotted, so I knew the truth was about ten times that of my speculations. I ran my tongue over a disgusting paw and washed my face with it much like I'd seen cats do back on earth. I dared not to look at my paw once I was done.

Instead, I turned my attention towards the…complete lack of people coming out of the ship. "This wasn't in the plan…" I whispered to myself, watching the ship closely. I gave myself one final ridiculous shake before slinking closer through the trees. I couldn't see what was going on on the deck, but I was determined to find out. The plants slid against my fur roughly, a few of them cracking off. I cringed. Even though they were so far away, noise was not a good thing. I took careful, measured steps, watching where I went until I came to the very edge of the forest. Thankfully, w/ all the rain and destruction and such, the plants were all wet and I didn't cause some random forest fire.

I crawled behind a palm tree at the very edge of the forest and pointed my ears towards the ship, focusing hard. Arcanine's, as should be a given, have incredible hearing, they can hear conversations up to 2000 feet away without fail. Well, I was about 2500 feet away from the ship, and having quite the hard time. I closed my eyes, putting all my focus on the ship.

"Where is she?" I heard a voice ask clearly. _Yes! I did it!!_ I closed my eyes tighter as I concentrated.

"It shouldn't be long now," another voice said. It was definitely masculine, and had a burly touch to it. _Who were they talking about?_ I wondered as I peeked my eyes open and looked around the side. Now, I had two choices at this point.

As you know, when I was younger, I was cocky, unpredictable, and did things without thinking. I've grown up since then, but that puppy-like personality was beginning to fall on me again. I guess it comes with having a plan. So, note to self, when you have a successful plan, you get immature. Got ya.

The second choice was to stay put, but what could I learn that way? The only real way to find out why this cruise ship was being all cryptic was to get closer, and possibly endanger myself. But what am I compared to the lives of thousands of humans and Pokemon? If I could find even a little of something out, it would be worthwhile, no matter the means.

I'm proud to say that I took off for the ship…after thinking it through. See? Super rash decisions…but I thought 'em through first!! That has to be a stepping stone. And a prided one!

I ran quickly through the sand, kicking up small particles in my wake. The sea's breeze stung my eyes and made them water a bit, but nothing worse than that. My long orange-and-black fur waved in the breeze, moving fluidly as I leaped from step to step, my back leg falling forward to where my front one was only a moment ago. I don't know where I learned this style of running, but it prevented my back paws from sinking in the sand- a pretty interesting instinct if you ask me.

I skidded across the sand to a halt once I'd arrived at the ship. I pulled my body close to the hull as I scrambled up- I didn't want them to see me, yet. I hurried to the very front of the hull, where I'd detected the humans who'd spoken earlier were. They were much louder now and their words clearer. I stared out into the open water as I listened.

"I hope the trap's ready by the time she gets here," said a young voice, quivery and feminine.

"It will be, we have the best engineers money can buy on this here ship," the burly voice from earlier replied.

"That's not what I mean…what if she…disapproves of it?" the girl asked nervously.

"Then we're all knocked down a few ranks, no big deal. You know how easy it is to climb the ranks."

The girl sighed. "You aren't of much use, Captain," she said briskly.

"Tell me something I don't know," he snapped.

I frowned. Could a conversation be any more unlikely? Or as non-professional? From what I know, empathy isn't in a job description, or worrying one's butt off. From the sounds of it, whoever their boss was wasn't very organized. Also from the sounds of it, this was no cruise line. They held a trap on board- a big, mechanical one, if it needed an engineer. And whoever was coming was some sort of big-head to them. How strange…

My thought were suddenly interrupted when I heard the sound of dozens if feet all moving as one on board. There was scrambling in the background and the sounds of things being picked up and dropped. There was a unanimous murmur of "She's here, she's here…"

Wow these people were like robots.

In the distance, I could see a vague shadow approaching. It wasn't that big, but the colors were vibrant. As it drew closer, a noise came with it- a loud one. The water began to churn up as it lowered from the setting sky. Now I could tell exactly what it was, and was surprised I hadn't realized earlier. The body was black, but at both the top and the bottom, it faded to yellow and then red. Its tail was yellow, but turned to red at the end. A single person piloted the plane, but I couldn't tell who. I could only see the flight goggles through the darkened windows. It was a helicopter. One of the finest ones I'd ever seen. But its presence should've shot up another thing.

Red flag number two, come on up.

The helicopter soared above the ship then began to drop straight down. All the people on board stopped moving immediately as the undercarriage met the ship's landing area and gave a slight bump up into the air before coming down again safely. I heard the motor power down swiftly and the sound of feet hitting the deck. The steps clinked as whoever it was paced back and forth. Sort of like if you were to hit a piece of metal with a hammer over and over again. The sound was intimidating even from down here. I could only imagine what the people on the boat were going through.

"Status report!" whoever it was barked as the footsteps abruptly stopped.

_I have to get up there_, I thought as I stared up the side of the hull. I stood up unsteadily on my hind legs and placed my forelegs on the hull, feeling for a grip on it. My claws caught on the small nuts and bolts well, but they weren't large enough for me to pull my weight up on. I began pacing down the side of the ship, looking for a way to get in. The ship bobbed lightly up and down in the water, causing the Sun's rays to go everywhere. When it at last hit me to check on my friends, I couldn't see them because I was being blinded. I growled- this was becoming annoying.

Finally, after pacing up and down the ship for nearly an hour, I saw a thick piece of rope dangling down against the ship. It was one of those kinds that you can see the splinters coming out from the sides of it. _Great…_I thought as I stared at it.

I stood on my hind legs again and sunk my claws deep into the rope. I heard the unpleasant crackles of the splinters as I did so and scowled, grinding my teeth together.

"Celli…" a quiet voice said behind me. I froze, only one thought pounding through my head. _I'm caught, I'm caught! Oh, man! I'm caught!!!_ I dropped to four legs and turned slowly…and nearly melted with relief when I saw Gregor flying there. "What the world are you doing here!?" he scolded quietly.

"I have to get up there! This isn't any cruise liner, I know that for sure," I told him sharply. He smacked himself on the head with a wing.

"He-ello! Did you even look at the smokestacks? There's a symbol on the first one," he said, pointing towards it.

"Well, uh, there were clouds covering it when I looked!" I claimed, twitching my tail with irritation. "What was the symbol?"

"It was a weird pattern…but the point is it had the letters 'T' and 'B' on it," he said. I gaped.

"Team…Team Blasters!?!?!?!? Why would they take over a cruise ship?" I wondered aloud as my tail started wagging. "Maybe…maybe that trap they were talking about. They're trying to get something big!! And dangerous! I mean, just look how thick the hull is! And there's, like, reflective armor on it!! What kind of boat needs armor? Much less reflective armor. It must give off tons of radiation…or maybe power!!! Maybe it's reflective because they don't want the power leaking out, they want it to reflect in on itself. And…and…it's black-colored! So that the power that travels like light does, so it will be absorbed and not released!!!" I looked straight at Gregor. "I've got it!!!" I yelled. He stared at me blankly.

"Riiight…where on earth did you learn that stuff?" he asked, incredulous.

"At school, I guess, but this felt more like a natural thing. But that's beside the point…" I was vibrating with pure energy by now. "Look, I've got a plan that'll get me in. You'll be the intercessor to our friends. If I can end Team Blasters now, that will be that," I said as I smiled slyly.

"You can't do that alone!" Gregor yelped.

"But I can," I answered. "I've been with them before, and besides, we need a spy on the inside. I'll take an alias while I'm with them." I closed my eyes as I thought about it. "Nah…I'll just act like a regular Arcanine, a super obedient one."

"I'm still not sure with this…" Gregor replied. "What if you…" he trailed off as he looked away. "What if you really trade sides?"

"I won't…and that's a promise," I said with a wink. "Now, you want to hear my plan or not?" He looked down for a moment and closed his eyes.

"Tell me," he said, his voice quivering. He didn't meet my eyes. I leant forward and whispered the plan in his ear.

"Oh," Gregor said at last, cracking a smile, "Is that all?" I rolled my eyes and growled at him.

"You good-doing bird! What are you doing giving me back those shells I lost? Huh? Is it any of your business!?!?" I scolded, trying not to laugh. I took a deep breath and shot a huge jet of fire just above his head. Gregor rolled his eyes as he flew over me.

"Take that, fiend!" he called as he dug his talons into my matted fur.

"Oh no! I'm afraid of heights! Whatever shall I do!?!?" I roared as I began swinging back and forth under him.

"Go back to the filth that is your kind, evil creature!!" Gregor said as he controlled my swinging with ease masked to be incredibly hard. I heard a bit of commotion on the ship and some whispers of 'hey, that's an Arcanine!', 'What' it doing fighting that bird?', and 'Hey, I have a translator! She's trying to beat him up because he's good!' They started to cheer.

_Wow, they really are idiots_, I thought while rolling my eyes. Gregor threw me onto the ship's slick wooden deck and I skidded into the wall. I heard a few jumpy footsteps as I crashed in. I began acting like I'd broke something as Gregor flew over. I winked at him and took him gently in my mouth and walked the mass of feathers to the side of the boat and dropped it into the water. Gregor fell without moving- even when he hit the water. He dove and used his wings to swim out of sight of the boat before surfacing.

Just like we'd discussed.

I collapsed onto the floor backwards, landing gently on my head although I made it sound painful. "What's wrong with her!?" one of the crew asked as he ran over and petted my side. I began acting like I was fainting…until I looked at him.

He was a combiomorph. They were all combiomorphs.

I didn't fake this time- I really fainted.

Third red flag's the charm.


	56. Initiation

**A/N: **Yay for hyper-late chapters!!!! Alright, just to assure you I haven't completely lost it on this, I already have chapter 56 in the works. Also, I'm looking for someone to help me, and keep my updates regular and such. PM me if you think you can help.

Thanks for all your reviews last chapter!!!

IMPORTANT POLL ON PROFILE- PLEASE VOTE.

**Chapter 55: Initiation I**

Gregor soared through the air quickly, making minute adjustments to his large wings as he glided high overhead the ship. He saw Celli knocked out on the ship's deck and cringed. He hadn't thrown her that hard had he? Then he noticed something else that confirmed his innocence.

Combiomorphs leant over Celli, some poking her, others making quick calculations. Gregor felt like he had to stop the plan right then and there, but didn't. Celli would hate him for that. Besides, how could a Pidgeot take down all those Combiomorphs? At first sight, he was so shocked that he began losing altitude.

"We'll keep in touch," he whispered as he turned and flew off through the darkening sky. "I promise." He took one final look back to see the newcomer on the ship- the one they'd hailed as a leader- talking with some of the crew and gesturing at Celli. Gregor frowned. This wasn't high school anymore. She could be in real danger.

Before he could change his mind, he forced himself to look away and flew deep into the forest, where the others had gathered.

--

"Where's Celli?" Rachel asked once she saw Gregor descending between the trees. His feathers casted a glare from the sinking sun on the ground, giving away their position only for a brief second. He dove quickly, pulling up just before running into Rachel. She sidestepped him so that he could have a better landing. He hopped to a stop and folded his wings.

"She's gone," he said. An uproar erupted out of the group as he was bombarded with questions. Rachel fought her way to the front of the group with Seth at her side.

"Gregor…" she whispered. Just by looking at him she knew he hadn't said everything. "What happened?" He frowned a bit. '_It's dangerous for them to know…they could be hurt or killed!_' Gregor thought, '_Bu Celli's their friend and they have a right to know…_'

"Oh, Rachel…" Gregor said, turning away. His eyes began to water as he shook his head. "She's gone into enemy territory by her own will," he said. He faced them all and said solidly: "As a spy."

--

I groaned as I awoke from unconsciousness. I blinked a few times and squinted. The sunlight (at least I thought it was sunlight) above me was so harsh. It strained my sensitive eyes to open them any more than a squint. I heard a few mutters around me before one sharp bark that silenced all of them.

"Arcanine!" someone yelled. Groaning, I moved my big, fluffy head to see who'd addressed me. Standing above me had to have been the most hideous thing I've ever seen in my life. It was a gross combination of Houndoom and Giratina that was fit together at the worst possible angles. It stood like a centaur of myth, only with the strange combined body than that of a horse. I couldn't see a single human feature. I cringed when I saw it.

"What's your name?" it growled. It was so vigorous, I couldn't get so much as a gender placement from the question.

"Sweena," I answered instinctively and quickly, unwilling to reveal my true identity. I looked up at her with hardened eyes, already beginning my ruse. "I got into a fight with a Pidgeot, but that's all I remember," I said.

"Ohh, is that it?" it asked. It used a Houndoom arm to sweep its hand out over the view of the deck. "Well, you've made it onto the Darling, a Dewford Cruise Liner. I do hope you'll enjoy your stay," it said invitingly. I pushed myself to my paws roughly and looked at her in confusion.

"A cruise ship?" I asked, shaking my head.

"M'lady," one of the combiomorphs standing around said as he ran over to her swiftly. He was a Lucario and Typholsion combiomorph- he actually came off as kind of cute. "The journey here must have been harsh, you have forgotten that we are Team Blasters and that we're on a mission to capture the three strongest of the strong legends," he explained. Judging by his words, _she_ then smacked herself on the forehead.

"Lieutenant Kenneth?" she asked. The Lucario X Typholsion combiomorph stood at attention. "Learn to control your mouth." A purple glow immersed her body and quickly gained in strength. It wasn't long before a high frequency toned through the air, expressing her power. The boy closed his eyes, but stayed still. I watched, stunned.

"I'm sorr-" he screamed as the purple blast suddenly rocketed off of her and blitzed through the air, hitting him with no less pain than getting hit by a train, no doubt. I gasped when he fell, surprised that I hadn't done anything to stop it. The glow quickly faded, but several spasms ran across the boy's body like lightning strikes. His whimpers and cries were suddenly like that of a five-year old who'd just been beaten up or denied his ability to buy something. A strange feeling overcame me as I set one paw towards him and a tear formed in my eye.

"You didn't…you didn't have to do that," I said, my words breaking. I started moving over to him, but several combiomorphs were tending to him. His sorrowful screams filled the ship, echoing multiple times through my mind. Even when he'd gone with the medical team, his scream still resounded in my ears.

"You know nothing about my way of leadership," she barked as she approached me. "If it makes you feel better, his pain will be short. That was his fifth offense this week, he does not deserve to be the rank he is, and there are no lower ranks open. I did the logical thing," she said.

"You…you k-" I asked, breaking off so I didn't have to say it.

"Yes, I killed him," she said with a wide grin. "Now that the secret's out, may I ask why you were fighting a Pidgeot and why you are on my ship?"

I was speechless. "You talk about that like you enjoy it," I squeaked. The strange combio unsheathed several claws and looked at them one by one. I could see red marks on them, coloring them with the savage color of blood.

"Maybe I do," she laughed. I shook my head in disapproval and she ran one of her claws over my head. She went so fast I didn't even register it until she held out about five inches worth of mane to me. I gaped and she cackled. "Now, answer the question."

I cleared my throat, not wanting it to get any worse. "I want to join Team Blasters," I said. "I was coming to the ship to ask when that Pidgeot got in the way," I explained, though I had always had a hard time with lying- I was a horrible liar. Deep within me, I hoped it would work that time though, if not any other time, that time. I shook my mane out, evening it up from the unexpected hair cut. I shuffled my paws with faux anxiety and nervousness, my tail went up a tad along with my ears. I made my tongue loll to the side cutely.

The lady thought about it for a moment before finally saying, "Alright, but don't expect it to be easy. You will be posted with a human as their Pokemon partner, no pokeball though, since you're a member of the team," she explained. I thought for a moment that I caught something in the girl's eyes that showed she knew more than what had been said, but I didn't pursue it- I was just happy to have been allowed in. Now I truly was a spy for Team Blasters! I would get to know all their plans, moves, armies, locations…I'd be the ultimate tool for putting them out of business forever. I smirked.

"Let's rock," I replied, my eyes glinting. She nodded her deformed head and motioned for me to come with her. I followed her quickly, my paws making muffled squeaks every time I stepped. While I was unconscious, it had gone from nighttime to daytime, apparently. The Sun was high overhead, but the sea breeze kept the metal deck from getting too hot. We were far out to sea- I couldn't see land anywhere. Waves battered the boat with sickly splatters every time one hit the hull. I cringed as some of the water went high enough to touch my coat. I shook off the teensy droplets and hurried up to catch up with her.

"In here," she said and opened a door. I ran over and walked inside while she came in with me and closed the door. The door creaked as it was closed, drilling a hole in my ears. I gritted my teeth as nothing but darkness entered my view. One step forward told me that the room was giant- my pawstep echoed several times.

"Where are we?" I asked and the question rebounded a few times.

"The barracks," she whispered, but her voice grew with volume as it echoed. "We must pick your partner after all." She grinned and chuckled as she walked forward. I followed behind at a distance, weary of what may lie ahead. _I don't get it…_ I thought, _Why would barracks be so large and empty?_

"Right…" I said nervously. I followed her by ear as we crossed the room. It wasn't long before we stopped. I sensed we hadn't gone so much as halfway across the room yet.

"Stay right here," she said. I nodded as I sat down, looking out into the darkness. I perked my ears; the fluffy things gave me insight to my surroundings, but not much. I thought I heard the sound of someone's foot slipping, but wasn't sure. Another sound- stranger than the last- was that of something tapping. It could have been water, but it seemed too solid for that. Suddenly a loud buzzing filled the room as multiple flood lights came, blinding me for a moment. I jumped up, shaking myself to get used to the light.

I blinked a few times before I finally realized what was going on. I was standing right in the middle of a battling stadium. Combiomorphs filled the bleachers around me, exploding into cheers the moment the lights had come on. I nearly jumped from all the confusion. I thrashed my head from side to side, trying to take it all in. Big empty room. Battle arena painted on the floor. Hundreds of savage combiomorphs cheering all around. And across from me, standing with what one can only claim to be regal disposition, was one of the strangest beings to have ever graced my eyes.

Long, green encasements spread from its back- four of them- moving rapidly and unpredictably. It hovered in the air with them, using the strange placements to stay absolutely still. Its body was red and yellow, the colors coming together at sharp angles. Its head came to a point with a sharp beak, red in color. Its long legs dangled below it, yet seemed ready to strike at any time. They were muscular, and something like pants. That's the only way I can describe them…it was so strange. But its arms, that was the worst, they were scythes- deadly sharp. It wielded them with obvious mastery as it hovered closer and closer.

"What is that thing!?" I yelped, suddenly losing all the cool I'd built up until that moment. The woman from earlier suddenly appeared again to my right.

"That is a ScytherXBlaziken combiomorph, and a failure of an experiment, obviously," she explained with an eye roll. "You didn't think we'd just accept you with open arms did you?" She laughed. "No, you have to gain our trust! Sweena! If that be your true name! Welcome to the first stage of your initiation!" She snapped her claws and the combiomorph flew forwards, slicing into my side before I'd even had a chance to register its motion.

I jumped away, gritting my teeth in pain. I turned and unleashed a wild Flamethrower that burned into the combio, but it managed to fly out of my inferno and dive on me again. It had one of its legs out this time and kicked me hard under the chin, sending me flying head over heels. I crashed to the floor and rolled to a stop only to have the thing come at me again. I jumped to my feet and sidestepped it, missing it by mere inches. I jumped up high while it was turning around and landed on its back.

"It's over now," I whispered as I shot a Flamethrower at close range, straight at the back of its neck. It began flying frantically, trying to knock me off, but I sunk my teeth and claws deep into it, providing no escape.

"No! Stop!" It yelled. "I can't control myself!" It began slashing me with its scythes, but I didn't give up. I jumped up again, ripping my claws savagely from it as my tail began glowing silver. It hardened into a perfect Iron Tail and I fell again with my tail out in front of me. I ran it into the combio with all the force I could muster and a sickly _CRACK_ echoed upon contact. Frozen in the air, it fell straight down with the force of my attack. The impact shook the whole stadium and dust kicked up into the air.

I landed easily in front of the barrage of dust a moment later and stared into it with icy eyes. "I dare you to get up," I growled, taking a small step forward. Deep, deep inside me, on another planet almost, I felt sad for what I had done, but now a new Celli was coming to the surface, kicking out the old one. I wasn't sure if I liked the new Celli either…she was so vigorous, how was she ever in me!?

I growled in order to hush my mind as the dust fell. The combiomorph twitched a bit, but it was down and out, and by the looks of it, would be that way for awhile. I smirked and sat down, waving my tail with pride. The man who had been standing behind the combiomorph ran to it and tried helping it desperately. I laughed at his care and turned away from him to the awestruck crowd. The lady stepped forward with dignity.

"You have passed your first test." I raised my ears with delight. "But your initiation is not over…" She grinned a ghostly smile, only boosted by the strange Giratina aura she had. "Not even close."

I smiled, unphased. "I figured as much."


	57. Reflections

**A/N: **Once again much too late…Thank you to s11jande for helping me out by reminding me to write it. Thank you to Dag 417, Poopfartbutts, FOBsessed12, Suicune Lord(YAY 500th REVIIEW!!!!!!), NewProphecy, Shaddow of the Ultimate Life Form, Mysterystar of DawnPack, and Twilight Gamer for reviewing. I found that writing this chapter was actually pretty fun, maybe I'm getting over my writer's block. No guarantees though. Of course, this story is coming to an end soon, express your opinion on either my profile poll, or via PM.

**Chapter 56:** Reflections

I sat alone on the ship, my small bed swaying as the boat rocked to and fro. Out of a small porthole I could see the choppy waves beyond as well as the bitter black sky. Only the white breaks of the waves were visible on this dark night. I sighed as I lowered my head to my paws, using my fur as a comfortable pillow- it had grown long in my stay aboard the ship. I would not need to be on deck for several hours; not that I'm ever needed anyway.

Let's just say that training on board the SS Torture wasn't that much fun. Sure, I got my place among the ranks, just as I'd wanted to, with only a minor trail of blood in my wake; nothing I'm proud of, of course. Whoever had killed all those grunts definitely wasn't me; it was the Other Me, the Instinct. The one that takes control when I'm cornered, the one responsible for every violence in my past. Now the blood of many grunts and many Pokemon is held on my shoulders, but strangely, I don't break.

What is wrong with me?

If I were like I used to be, the sight of blood would cause instant fear, now it bestows bloodlust. If I were like I used to be, I'd realize the huge hole I've put myself into, but I don't. If I were like I used to be, I would be on my way through high school, trying to fit in and dealing with all the normal problems of normal kids.

If I were like I used to be…

…I wouldn't be here.

Of course, so much for that now. I had to face it: I was a Pokemon, victim of some haphazard game. This WAS real life now, not some fairy tale. I've gone too long thinking like that. Much, much too long. Time to get my head in the game. Time to really get moving. I smirked with newfound confidence before lying my head on the pillow.

Tomorrow was the day.

--

A small group sat on mainland Hoenn. They stood together on the white sandy beaches of Slateport; the only thing that could not be taken away from the port town. Gregor, Rachel, Seth, Timothy, Rain and Reo were gathered as they had every night since they'd arrived there.

"She's been gone a long time," Gregor said, his voice soft and sad. Though he'd hate to admit, he had become affectionate of Celli; whether she was an Arcanine or a human.

Rachel nodded, looking to the sand. "I only hope she's safe." Gregor looked over at her. Out of everyone, he'd known Rachel the longest. Celli included. He unfurled one of his wings and gently placed it on Rachel's shoulder.

So long ago…not so very long ago…

_The bright circle of the moon was the only light on this dark night. Rachel giggled. "We're almost there!" she said, her voice hushed. She had Gregor by the hand, dragging him through the woods behind their elementary school. _

"_Ack!" Gregor yelped as he tripped over a rock. He couldn't see a thing; not that that affected anything, he was being dragged against his will. "I don't think mom's going to like me coming home so late…" He dusted himself off in the brief moment Rachel had paused to let him up._

"_Get over it!" she said, dragging him along again. Gregor sighed. What could be so interestingabout the woods behind the school anyway? Rachel began to slow down suddenly, and Gregor almost plowed into her._

"_Make up your mind!"_

"_Shh, we're here." She let her hand fall from his arm and took a few steps forward, precise and slow."This is it," she whispered. Gregor followed right behind her and almost tripped again. Rachel reached her hand out to steady him, but remained focused ahead. "I want you to close your eyes."_

"_Uh, why?"_

"_Because."_

"_That's not an answer."_

"_I want you to see something. Close your eyes." Gregor finally obliged. He felt Rachel's hand firmly grasp his as the other made firm contact with his back. She slowly maneuvered him forward without incident. Gregor felt the absence of protective trees overhead soon after. He was brought to a halt. _

"_Can I open them?" The darkness of his own eyelids was beginning to scare him._

"_Yeah." _

"_Whoa." Laid out before him was a huge valley. Beautiful trees and plants stood untouched by any human hand. Birds flew from tree to tree, their shapes striking in the moonlight. Deer galloped without worry, only pure joy resounding from their prancing hooves. And through it all ran a wide river, its water blue and crystal clear. The moon reflected perfectly in the center of it, making a sky beneath him. Rachel sat with her legs over the side of their small cliff. Her eyes full off childish wonder and delight._

"_This is my world, Gregor," she said. _

"_It's amazing."_

"_I've never shown it to anyone, not even my parents. My brother knew about it, but now no one knows about it but me…and you." She looked up into Gregor's eyes, her gaze gleaming. Gregor could only smile. He sat down next to her, allowed his feet to dangle off. _

"_Your brother…" Gregor knew this was a touchy subject that could easily make her angry, so he was surprised when a grand smile filled her face._

"_He was a wonderful person. But that's another story. First, I have to ask you something." She turned to him, her expression completely serious. Gregor waited. "I want you to join me here. This kingdom is suddenly without a king, I need someone to take the king's place. Who would be better than you?"_

_Gregor smiled. "Of course," he said. "I'd be honored." Rachel laughed._

"_Welcome, then, to your kingdom." _

_The two of them played there for the rest of their first grade year, and all the way to third grade, when Celli joined the kingdom. It was in that year the place was destroyed, and a mini mall put in place._

Gregor smiled down at Rachel, wondering if she remembered it all. When times are rough, nostalgia comes easy. He didn't often think of his past, it actually surprised him that he'd been sucked into nostalgia for so long. He laughed a little.

"She'll be back. Very soon, she'll be back," Reo murmured. Everyone turned to look at him.

"How do you know?" Seth asked.

"Must you all always ask me that? Can you never take what I say for truth without evidence?"

"Nope," Seth replied, ignoring his grating tone. Reo frowned.

"I have my ways," he said.

"Don't we all."

--

"I am seriously getting tired of this waiting crap," Lauren said while twiddling with one of her Jolteon spikes. She'd gotten so bored that she was poking herself in the finger with it.

"Patience is a virtue," Crimson said with a light laugh.

"Patience is a waste of time," she retorted. "In fact…I think I'll be on my way now." She got up from where she was leaning against a tree.

"You won't stand a chance against them!"

"I think boredom has a better chance of killing me than attacking," she mumbled. "You comin, Mr. Trist?" she asked lazily.

"What?" He had been buried in the most recent newspaper and had hardly heard the bickering. "Oh, yeah, I'll be right there." He folded the newspaper neatly and followed her. Crimson rolled her eyes.

Lauren huddled behind a bush in Jolteon form. Mr. Trist remained behind the building. She quietly snuck forward, staying out of the current guard's line of sight. Once she was close enough, she fired an electrified needle at his neck, effectively knocking him out.

"Score one for the home team." She transformed into human form and used one of her needles to swiftly pick the lock. In a matter of seconds she was Jolteon again. She raced through the front lobby unnoticed, but there was only one person there so it wasn't much of an accomplishment. Afraid that there would be a collection of guards somewhere, she ran faster, almost a blur.

She went down hallway after hallway without seeing a single person. The place was totally deserted. Desperate for at least SOME action, she ran to where the evil Keith Reid had held his office during her stay at the place. She transformed back into a human, wanting to make this a face to face encounter. She had some things to tell him. She braced herself and slid the door open with a strained _creak! _She stepped onto the familiar plush carpet and looked up to his desk to discover…

He wasn't there.

"Well this stinks. Where is everyone?"

--

Celli's ship finally hit land. Finally. She stretched her legs and yawned before going out with the rest of the crew. Looming just in front of the ship was the largest mountain Celli had ever seen. She instantly recognized it from her Diamond and Pearl Pokemon videogames, though couldn't quite remember the name. Ruins of Alph? No. Cave of Origins? No. Mt. Siani? Not that either.

"Mount Coronet," she said, at last identifying it. The place where Palkia, Dialga, and Arceus could all be called on. She immediately knew why they were here.

She could only guess at what her extreme purpose in this was.


	58. Mt Coronet

**A/N: **Sorry the update took me so long. A little faster than normal actually, less weeks! Thank you to NewProphecy, Sanablades, Shaddow the Ultimate Life Form, and Twilight Gamer for reviewing!!

**Chapter 57:** Mt. Coronet

Two men sat facing each other in a conference room. "You're positive?" one of them asked, folding his hands on the table in front of him. The other nodded and touched the notes spread out all over the table.

"It's simple," he said. "Very." He pointed at a diagram. It showed a picture of a sphere. Around it was a something like an aura, or energy. "Just aim at anything and it will take that energy and charge it tenfold for the strongest shot you can get from a weapon. And you've got the perfect energy reserve."

The other man was nodding. "Thank you, sir, ask your supervisor for a raise, you well deserve it." The one with the notes began gathering them together and placing them in a folder.

"Th-Thank you, sir," he said and rushed out the door.

--

I was marched up the mountain along with the Team Blasters grunts, right in the midst of them. Let me be first to tell you that being a spy is strange. It's very often that you find yourself considering your own moral goals. It's very easy to make that fatal slip. Very.

I didn't dare to talk to any of the grunts, lest I should fall victim of their beliefs. I gave cold stares to any who came near, effectively drawing attention away from myself.

Soon we entered the cave at the base of the mountain. It was dark; by only my night vision was I able to see. I couldn't begin to guess how they could all see where they were going, being humans. No Pokemon attacked us. I don't blame them. What luck would a lone Zubat have against a crowd of thousands of grunts and combios? Not all that much.

We were lead through long tunnels and progressively darker caves. Want a summary? Boring. B.O.R.I.N.G. We did nothing but walk, march, rather, through complete darkness. Every once in awhile there would be an underground spring and we'd stop for water. I just wanted to get all this over with. We went outside sometimes, but not for long, there was always another tunnel lying in wait.

I groaned. "What are we doing here anyway?" A grunt nearby gave me a harsh look demanding silence. I shrugged, but quieted myself. Not long after, we began a steep climb; I could see a pinprick of light at the very top. This was what I was waiting for..and what I was dreading. I couldn't begin to guess what would happen up here, but I knew that it wouldn't be good.

Ancient ruins towered above us as we walked out onto the highest point of Mt. Coronet. They looked like they could fall at any moment. I was suddenly very aware of…of everything. The cold wind running through my silky fur. The complete silence of my graceful paws hitting the ground. The never ending view on both sides of me. The vibrant blue sky so close to me I thought I could touch it. My breath caught in my throat as I took it all in; it was so beautiful…

Perhaps at another time this trip would have been happier. Not now. DEFINITELY not now.

We came to an abrupt stop; all of us as one atop the gigantic mountain. I can't begin to imagine how we all fit up there.

In front of us, a small stage was being constructed. It was a small one, made to pop up after unfolding it a ways. Soon, the wonderful woman who had greeted me to this place was standing there. I scowled and looked away. It wasn't just that I hated her, her features were so contorted it was painful to look. She began to speak.

"We have come this far, faithful subjects, and now our true goal is to be accomplished. Many of you will die, few will make it through this, but those who die will die with honor. You will be forever remembered by the new world order." She raised her arms. "We are here to capture the three most influential Pokemon of them all…Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus."

My head snapped up. What!?!?! My eyes narrowed; she couldn't do that! I growled as I sunk to the ground. She continued her stupid little pep talk, but her so-called subjects probably weren't even listening. It's hard to take a Houndoom/Giratina…thing seriously. You'd be surprised.

I crouched just behind the front line of men, snarling. I finally looked back up at her to see she'd produced some kind of silver weapon. It was huge, and glowing. Parts of it glowed navy blue then faded, then glowed again. It was weird, but I shrugged it off. I had a goal of my own to accomplish.

I growled one last time before squeezing in between the grunts at the front. I roared the moment I got ahead of them and dug my heels in. Everything immediately went into pause mode. Everything…except the woman herself. Danica. She'd stopped talking, yes, but she started doing something else. She smiled. "Just as I expected."

That threw me off. WAY off. I coughed a little as I choked on the Flamethrower I was creating. "You…?"

"Cecilia. Human turned Pokemon. Combiomorph." She spat it out like she'd known it forever. I stared and my knees grew weak. She didn't know that…she couldn't! I knew for sure I wasn't combiomorph; very much an Arcanine.

"NO!" I roared, retaliating with anger rather than letting my guard down. She couldn't know that! There was no way for her to! I took off for her, screeching a wild battle cry. She didn't move.

"You and those like you have the strongest energy readings of any creature." She paused as she lifted the giant weapon. "Which is exactly why you've joined us today."

I wasn't even halfway over to her when she fired it. A blue beam of light flashed over to me and I hit it dead on. It was like a brick wall! I screamed in pain as the blue light came over me. I couldn't move! I growled and roared, trying to get away, but I was trapped. It felt like knives were poking into me from all sides, drawing my energy away. "You can't do this!!!!!!!" I yelled. I was getting weaker and weaker, it wouldn't stop!

"AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed in pain. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as my body began to convulse.

Suddenly darkness came over me, true darkness. The world was silenced and all the pain was gone away. It was like nothing had ever happened. My breath wasn't even heavy. "What…?" I asked quietly, but the question rebounded on itself so it was normal speech level. "Where am I?"

"You're here, but you're not." I could hear something like quiet pawsteps on tile flooring. A small light came on, but it wasn't enough to see the floor, if there even was a floor. All she could see was the figure who had just now entered her presence.

"Who are you?" I barked; still high strung from the battle.

"Perhaps you remember me," the other said as it came just close enough to the light so that I could see its face. It was an Arcanine, but the colors were strange. Instead of orange, black, and cream, this creature hosted colors of gray, white, and black. A scar ran over its left eye; pink and fresh. Both its eyes were a piercing red. Its canine were extra long and extended past its jowls. "Or perhaps not."

I shuddered and began to back away. The creature remained completely still. A mirror suddenly appeared from nowhere in front of me. What was this place!? Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in the mirror.

It was me. The old me.

The me I was before any of this happened. I raised my hand up and stared at it. No claws, no fur, nothing! Just my hand. It felt strangely naked and weak. I threw it down in disgust. I looked into my old eyes and touched the image in the mirror. It was me…but it wasn't. It was like I couldn't imagine myself as a human any longer.

But wasn't that always my goal…? To be human again? Of course it was! Who would want to stay a feral animal? Right? Right…? I frowned. I didn't know what I wanted anymore.

"Take it away," I said quietly, looking down. The mirror faded into nothing. The creature replaced it.

"I am you," it said…she, I guess. I stared at her.

"No…no you're not. My colors were normal," I stated.

"Must you look only skin deep?" the creature scolded. "This is what you were on the inside. It was what you were becoming. You've encountered me more than once on your journey thus far." She smiled, each of her crooked teeth sharpened to a point. "I believe you have a pet name for me." Could it be? Was this horrible thing the one that helped me when my situations got to be their worst?

"In-Instinct?" I asked, gaping.

"Yes, that was it." She nodded. "But I am much more than that. Remember what you saw in the mirror? Your human self? Instinct applies there too. You can't get away from me, no matter what form you take."

"Sure I can," I retorted.

The creature laughed. "You can't," she insisted. "You've had multiple tries to get rid of me, but you can't. I am not an instinct, remember that. I am you. And this is your final chance. Something like a screen appeared to the right of us. I looked over to see what had been happening only moments ago. Thousands of grunts watching as the energy gun stripped away my life's energy. I cringed at the picture. I looked so weak already.

"Final chance? What do you mean by that?" I pressed. She shook her head slowly.

"You know what it means. The choices you make now will affect your future forever. Don't let me take over. That will be your final loss." The creature howled with laughter as the darkness rushed away. I was sent crashing back into my Arcanine body without a moment's notice. The pain immediately returned, coursing over my body. It took all my effort not to scream from the pain. It was so complete! I could barely stand it.

I was rapidly getting weaker, that much was obvious. If I didn't act soon, the Instinct would have to take over, there would be no choice about it. I had to keep that from happening. Keep it from ever happening.

Slowly, I pulled my legs underneath me. I growled as I tried to push myself to my feet, trying not to yell in pain the whole time. After what seemed like an eternity, I was up on my feet. I lifted one giant, orange paw and set it in front of me. Straining, I moved myself forward a step. Then another. And another. Finally I was walking. After the initial pin of trying to walk, it was much easier to continue walking. I was still getting progressively weaker. My time was quickly running out. I felt the animal urge inside me, but ignored it. I was almost there, I couldn't give in now!

I tried to ignore the pain, but I could only go so long. I roared aggressively, building my confidence. Finally, I gritted my teeth and charged as fast as I could, finding new born strength in my limbs. I bounded into the makeshift stage and ran my weight through it. Danica had been so focused on the weapon she hadn't seen my move. She toppled over and the weapon slid wildly across the ruins. The blue light at last released its hold on me and I was able to take a painful breath.

Strength slowly returned, but I didn't care, I was running on adrenaline now, and nothing else. I ran for the weapon faster than Danica could get to her feet. I crushed it in my teeth right where a huge container was hanging off the bottom. Blue sparks of light came surging out of it like a wild waterfall. They zoomed around my body and absorbed themselves into me.

I was getting strong, fast. Stronger than I'd ever felt before. It took less than thirty seconds for all the energy to come back to me. I roared in triumph as I turned to face Danica.

This was it. This would be the end at long last. I'd defeated the Instinct and now I would come out as the final victor. I smirked.

This would be too easy.


	59. Trials

**A/N: **Hello out there! Sorry for the late update…again. It was just six months…heh. Well, won't be six months for the next chapter, I have it written already. Now here's some news…the first arc of Periwinkle is ending. How soon? I won't tell, but know the second arc will continue through this same host fic, and so will any other arcs that come afterwards.

Thank you to AwesomeChef, thunderlight1, Claymore of Doom (thanks for all those characters), Pokemonluver5678, Suicune Lord, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini, NewProphecy, Sanablades, and Twilight Gamer for reviewing!

**Chapter 58: **Trials

With blue sparks of energy leaping off my coat, I took slow steps forward. I stared hard at Danica, my glare burning into her. She dared not move, glaring back just as hard. I felt anger leaping up from within, but I tried to ignore it. Not only did I have to defeat Danica, I had to keep the Instinct down as well. I wanted to do no more than kill this infernal beast, I couldn't keep myself from the desire. The two of us locked eyes and I stood still, allowing the fire to grow within me. A light suddenly surrounded Danica, covering her. She swiftly grew taller, her misshapen body taken recognizable form. Soon, the light faded away with a blast of color to reveal a giant standing before me. Sinister and dark, she laughed at me from her new Giratina body.

"Makes no difference," I growled. She only growled as a sphere of light appeared in her mighty jaws. I ran forth, shooting flames as hard and often as I could. I dove underneath her, shooting fireballs at her exposed belly. I rolled to a stop on the other side as my tail began glowing. Just before she had enough time to turn, I leaped up and struck her in the back of her neck with an Iron Tail. She pitched forward, but quickly caught herself.

"Evil rat!" she screeched scathingly as she whipped around, unleashing the Hyper Beam that she'd been charging. The beam of pure light shot towards me, but I managed to jump out of the way at the last second. I ran and jumped, claws and teeth bared. I latched onto her back, slicing into her armor. "Get off me!" she roared as she bucked and tried to hit me with her tail. I held on for a bit, but it soon became impossible to stay on any longer. My claws ripped out of her back and I was sent careening into the pillars that decorated the top of Mt. Coronet.

I landed dead center in the middle of one of them and groaned as I fell to the rocky ground. I landed in a heap, several of the stones stabbing into me. I shrieked in pain as I curled into myself, licking my wounds. Blood spilled out of me and the wispy blue energy with it.

"Give up already?" her voice asked, booming. Her laughter echoed along the great pillars, so confident and reeling.

'_I can't give up yet…' _I thought as I closed my eyes, reaching deep within me for the strength I needed. The strength that was swiftly flowing away from me. I could hear Danica's awful footsteps resounding again and again on the rubble covered ground. She was getting closer. The faces of all my friends flashed through my eyes, all the people I loved…all the things I'd sacrificed. I suddenly felt the weight of all those Pokemon and people who'd been tormented by Team Blasters on my shoulders.

I couldn't give up. This wasn't about me getting revenge, it wasn't about me at all. I would defeat Danica. I would defeat Keith. I would defeat the whole of Team Blasters! Not for me, but for those around me. If I had to sacrifice myself, so be it.

I shouted a battle cry as I leaped from the ground, landing on unsteady legs. I could feel my weakness, but that didn't matter now. When I looked up to find Danica, all I found was a blinding orb of light that filled my vision.

The Hyper Beam hit me straight on, and I was consumed by its awful light. Searing pain covered me, gnawing at my bones. The light sent me flying with the force of an explosion. The air cut through me as I sailed its mighty winds, beating me up as though I were a nuisance to its space. It shot me down swiftly, driving me into the rocky ground. Dust and rock flew into the air as my body drove through the rocks before finally coming to a stop against a stone pillar.

Gasping for breath, I stood up. I didn't dare look at my side, the pain told me enough. "Who knew you'd be so fun to battle?" My breath caught in my throat as I looked up and all around, but I didn't see her anywhere. I backed up against the pillar, looking on all sides. I could barely breathe, I couldn't risk another attack. "Boo," a voice said and I jumped to the side, turning to see Danica standing there with claws blazing with the power of darkness. Before I could think, she slashed me with Shadow Claw. The attack sent shivers of pain through my body, nearly forcing me to buckle. I shuddered as I felt the darkness coursing through me, never before had I felt so violated.

"I'm…not…done!" I rasped weakly as I took an attack stance and glared into her. I took a quick look to the side, comparing her size to the pillar's. I smirked. "It's barely…started."

"It was over before you first attacked, Cecilia," she said, her voice almost sounding sympathetic. "It's a pity really. A shame you aren't stronger. I don't have the slightest clue why Mew had such interest in you." The talk of Mew surprised me, but getting distracted wouldn't help right now. It was part of her trick, it had to be.

"Enough. Aren't you going to attack?" I growled, bunching up my muscles as I got ready to unleash my move. I lowered my tail as I allowed it to begin glowing till it became a shimmering metal.

"Huh, I thought you liked to talk. A shame your friends aren't here. I'm sure you'd talk with them." Anger suddenly flared up within me when she spoke of my friends. She may have known everything else, but all that could be known from Mew or some other supernatural force. There was no way she could know of my friends!

"My friends?" I yowled angrily as my claws began to thump against the rocky ground.

"Yes, your friends. Rachel, Gregor, Seth, some crazed Piplup…there's a few others. Oh, and we can't forget about Marius. He used to be one of the most important people at Team Blasters. To my understanding, he woke up from a coma not long ago. But you needn't worry about any of them. We killed them after obtaining their DNA. All except Marius, whom is now our lab subject," she explained. Her voice didn't falter once, she talked about all of it as though it were casual chat.

"You did what!?" I screamed, outraged. "No! No you didn't! You couldn't have! You beastly woman!" All my friends…how could they be dead!? It hadn't been long since I'd left them, how could this have happened so fast. Danica only laughed. "Quit laughing! It's a horrendous thing you've done! Why do you laugh at misery!?" Danica smiled to herself, but said nothing.

"You have nothing to live for, dear. Everything valuable to you is gone." I felt tears beginning to streak down my fur, leaving trails in their paths.

"No!" I shrieked in denial. All my strength suddenly flew out of me and I sank to the ground. My tail lost its Iron glint as I felt failure pressing on me. I could hear their voices in my mind, so happy and cheerful. How could they been taken away so quickly? Gregor and Rachel especially, the two I'd entered this new world with. And Marius…he'd woken and I hadn't been there to greet him. Then I could suddenly hear Marius's voice clearly, as though he were sitting next to me.

"_Celli_," I heard him say. His voice was gentle and soft, like a leaf dancing in the wind. "_It's a lie…a lie." _His voice faded away, drifting out of reach on the cool breeze. Could it be true? A lie? Danica, the notorious Commander of Team Blasters, could be lying? I wasn't sure, but the fact that it could be true drove me. I looked up and stared her in the eyes.

"You're lying," I growled as I got to my feet. I stood on heavy, strengthless paws, but I didn't care. "I know what you want, Danica…" I ducked my tail and let the metal shine return to it. "You know I'm the only threat to your desires. You'll be a Commander forever at this rate, never a leader, like Keith." I snarled at her as I watched a look of outrage cross her face, mixed with confusion and a bit a fear to top it off. "Come and get me!" I screeched and stood open and defenseless, waiting for her. She roared as she locked on to me and charged. I watched her, just a few feet closer. Just as a sphere of light began charging in her mouth, I struck the pillar next to me as hard as I could with an Iron Tail.

The pillar, already weakened with age and weather, tumbled over without a fight. It crashed on top of Danica, crushing her underneath its heavy structure. Her roar changed to a painful howl as I ran over to her. Dust from the crash quickly began to settle. The pillar was now in dozens of pieces, all covering her enormous Giratina body. I held my breath as I watched the pile. I had no idea if this would work. A light suddenly flared up, but it was different from the light of a Hyper Beam. More soft and kind. The light surrounded the pile, energy humming about it. It began to shrink down, slowly yet steadily. It faded away, with nothing but the sound of a twinkling bell floating on wind.

"It's done…" I whispered. I looked to my side to see hundreds of Team Blasters grunts standing around, gawking. The place was completely silent. A few looked to each other, not sure of what to do. I turned toward them and roared as loud as I could. The sound echoed across the pillars, even louder than any of Danica's roars. The Team Blasters grunts seem to take the hint and turned tail. I smirked as I watched them leave, probably off to tell Keith about what'd happened. I looked back towards the pile, searching for Danica. I jumped on top of it, nearly slipping on the loose gravel. I looked down through breaks in the wreckage, but didn't see her.

I closed my eyes as I lifted my nose to the air, trying to detect the smell of combiomorph. I walked up and down the wreckage until I finally found somewhere around the north end. I put my nose to the ground and took a whiff. I could smell her breath, she was still alive. I dug into the remnants of the pillar, tossing it to the side. Stray pieces of pillar dug into my paws, cutting the soft pads. I cringed, but kept digging deeper. I was panting heavily by the time I'd gotten halfway to the bottom. The sun was at my shoulders, scorching me.

I could hear her now, coughing and sputtering under the weight of the rocks. I didn't think she'd make it much longer. I dug faster, throwing huge chunks of pillar to all sides as I tried to pierce my way through. I used Metal Claw to break the bigger pillar chunks into small pieces in order to clear it faster. Soon, I could see Danica's hand. I worked harder to clear the rock from her head and chest.

Breathless, I watched her as she blinked a few times before staring up at me. "Celli?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Are you okay?" I asked obliviously as I continued clearing the rock.

"Why are you helping me?" Her voice sounded strange to me. It didn't have the same authoritative tone it had had not an hour before.

"To tell the truth, I don't know," I answered. I heaved the last chunk off of her legs and grabbed her arm in my jaws. I softly pulled her up into a sitting position before motioning for her to grab on to my back. She gripped my bloodstained fur in her hands and held on tight as I scaled the debris. When we got to the top, we slid down to level ground. I dropped her in the nearest clear space I could find.

"Th-thank you," she whispered to me. She didn't look very good, to say the least.

"I'm sorry," I told her sincerely. Suddenly everything that had happened caught up with me and I toppled to the ground. The sun bore into me, making me more and more exhausted as I gasped for breath. "Didn't mean to…" but I was gone, thrust away into the peaceful quiet of sleep.

--

On a beautiful, white-sanded coast many miles away, a group of Pokemon sat, staring out into the ocean. A single human sat with them, polishing the pokeballs that decorated his belt. It was an odd lot to be sure, but they came to the beach every day, waiting. Waiting for their friend to return as a conquering hero. Most of them didn't really care if she ended up being a hero, they just wanted Celli back.

"You know what?" a certain Pidgeot asked as he turned to face his best friend. "I'm tired of waiting. We've done nothing but wait. For days."

"Gregor, you know what Celli said…" Rachel said cautiously. She bobbed up and down in the water, cooling her Wartortle body with the midday surf.

"I know, I know, she didn't want help. But what if she's in trouble out there? What if she got hurt?" Gregor insisted as millions upon millions of terrifying fates flashed through his mind. "I saw her die once, I don't want to experience it again!"

"Calm down, Gregor, you know her as well as I do. She'll be fine. She's Celli after all," Rachel said with a small laugh.

"I won't wait any longer!" Gregor insisted. Reo, an Abra heard his outcry and walked over to the two.

"Why not just let nature take its course?" Reo questioned.

"Nature's an idiot." Gregor leaped into the air, wings open wide. "I'm going to the forests behind Petalburg. To the Team Blasters headquarters. I'm going to find Celli, if it's the last thing I do! Who's coming with me?" he demanded. Everyone just stared at him, not sure of what to say. Gregor locked fierce stares with everyone, waiting to see if any would come forward.

"I'll come," said a voice from behind him. Gregor turned to see Rachel walking out of the surf and taking her place next to him. Upon seeing Rachel walk up, Seth took a step forward.

"I'm in," he said and zipped over next to Rachel. She smiled at him.

"Whatever," Reo mumbled, "If you won't be patient and just wait, I guess I'll come with you." He walked up to Gregor's other side.

"Let me!" Rain yelped. "Let me!" She zoomed up and started jumping all over everyone. "Let me swim with you, Rachel!" she cried.

"You can't swim…" Rachel said as she pushed her away.

Rain glared into Rachel's eyes. "Let me swim with you," she growled. Rachel backed up a step or two.

"Okay, okay," she said with a hint of nervous laughter.

"Sometimes I really wish I can speak Pokemon…" Timothy said as he watched all the Pokemon talking together. He stood up and clipped his newly polished pokeballs to his belt. "Are we going somewhere?" he asked as he watched Seth and Reo climb onto Gregor's back. Gregor motioned to Reo to have him tell Timothy what was going on.

"_We're going to Petalburg City to find the Team Blasters base. Are you coming?"_ Reo asked telepathically.

"Oh, okay then…it's not like I ever not follow you guys around…Marius better get back here soon," Timothy mumbled as he got on Gregor's back. Rachel and Rain got ready in the water, then they took off across the sea, going as fast as they could towards the Hoenn mainland.

--

A shadow darted through the woods beyond Petalburg. It only hovered for a moment at a time, dashing from tree to tree as it made its way closer towards the densest part of the woods. It moved soundlessly over bushes and swiftly over fallen branches. The sun was still out, quickly descending across the sky. Even in the light, the figure was hard to see. All that could be seen was a long jacket, reaching past the figure's knees, and a strangely large hat on his head, tilted sharply to the side. He paused suddenly behind one of the bushes and ducked down, watching through the bush at the scene unfolding before him.

"There was no one there," a voice said. It was girlish, but somehow obtained a rough undertone.

"Are you sure?" asked another voice, this one rough with age and most definitely masculine.

"Positive," the other answered.

"I didn't see them leave," said another. This one the figure could only understand due to his handcrafted earpiece, made to translate Pokemon sound to human. "Well, a huge number left a week or two ago, but some stayed behind."

"I'll bet you anything they're around here somewhere, hiding," the first said. The figure could now make out this girl to be part Vaporeon and part Jolteon, but with humanity conquering both. He quickly recognized her as a combiomorph. He smiled to himself as he stepped forward through the bush, purposefully making the branches clash against one another, announcing his arrival.

"Lucky for you, I'm not with Team Blasters," the figure said as he stepped into the fleeting light of the clearing. "Not anymore."

The three of them turned toward him as one and gawked. Lauren was the first to recognize her old Commander. "Marius!" she cried.

"Marius," the man answered. "It's been awhile since I've heard my name."


	60. Impossible Futures

**A/N: **Hi everyone! Welcome to the first chapter of the second arc! I said it would be soon, and well, it was, very soon. I've tried to craft the chapter in such a way that it is not really necessary to read any of arc 1, but if you are confused on anything, just PM me. Also, I will try to update every Monday and Friday now.

First off, thank you to my beta, Lightning-Alchemist-Rini. I highly recommend any story you see on her profile.

Thank you to NewProphecy, FrotHeartWarrior, Suicune lord, and Creation of Pokerus for reviewing! Thanks for all those who read as well. Now then, enjoy the chapter!

**Arc 2: **Begin.

**Chapter 59:** Impossible Futures

Rain poured down on the dust-bitten land, pooling into great ponds of mud. It fell in silent rounds, unseen and unheard. Under the cloak of night it fell, giving first refreshment to the air of spring. Great buildings arose from the desolate ground, towering above worn roads. Glass lay in piles along the streets, shattered and left with nothing but pieces of unknown memories and unseen knowledge of hopeful days long passed by. Long turned to frightful dread and misery.

I watched the scene from high above, my body floating on air. I fell with the rain, twirling and spiraling down until my paws touched the sodden ground. Even under the harsh rain, I still felt the dusty road under my paws. I walked slowly, gazing up at the broken buildings. It felt so dark…so empty. Silence surrounded me, not even the rain seemed to make the slightest sound.

I rushed onwards, leaping down the soulless road. The rotten carcasses of strange vehicles passed by me, all twisted and sorely misshapen. The place stunk of misery and many lives lost. A cold shiver fell down my spine as I skidded to a stop in the midst of the roadway. I couldn't go any further, for in front of me a metallic heap covered the road. It spanned from one side to the other, all made up of those strange vehicles lining the road on either side.

These vehicles, though, were in much worse shape. The metal was tipped in black, corroded severely and marked by fire. I could almost hear the crunching sound as I looked over the cracks and breaks where one of the vehicles must have hit the other. Broken pieces of glass were scattered everywhere, a monument to the catastrophe.

As I stared at the jumbled mess, memories slowly flowed through my mind. Images of the world I knew before the day I was sucked into the Pokemon world. Vibrant pictures of colorful cars, speeding down the streets. Me, riding with my parents in our van with all of my things scattered about my feet and boxes up to my neck. I saw giant buildings zooming by my window. It was then that it hit me…this metallic mayhem crumbling to nothing in front was a giant car wreck. I looked up again, gazing at the buildings.

I was home.

Or what was left of home.

I perked my ears, wishing for the jubilant music of human life to reach them, but there was nothing. I padded closer to the wreck, the quiet rain slicking down my fur coat. "What happened?" I whispered, my words distraught and heavy. If I expected someone to answer my plea, no such thing happened. Fresh tears formed in my eyes as I lowered my head to the ground, afraid to look at the terror unfolding. "Mom?" the words escaped my lips as I vocalized my deepest worry. What had happened to my parents? I imagined a million fates, but quickly shook them off. I wouldn't guess, I had to be sure.

I forced myself to look up at the carnage and leap. I swiftly scaled it, sending glass flying in my wake. Once at the top, I could now see what had caused the many cars to wreck. A giant structure lay collapsed on the top of the pile, but it did not stop there. I looked to my left to see it had crushed building after building, destroying everything that lay in its path. The remains of the building were miserably misshapen, but its identity was unmistakable. This was the Empire State Building, tossed to the side as though it were no more than a child's plaything. What could have done this? I leaped down the other side and continued my journey to find my parents.

I didn't get very far before yet another sight stopped me in my tracks. This time, though, no obstacle was in my path, rather, a shallow hole opened up in the center of the road. I ran closer, to get a better look. The place reeked, I cringed as the foul odor fell over me in rancid waves. Squinting from the stench, I peered into the hole.

I stared in horror, terrified.

In that hole, several bodies lay side by side. The thing that stuck out though, was that none of them were human. They were Pokemon, Pokemon I knew. Gregor, wings war-torn and with an expression of pronounced boldness decorating his face was first I could see. Seeing him lying there, dead and rotting nearly made me throw up on the spot. The others were harder to see than Gregor, but there was no mistaking who was here. Rachel and Seth seemed to have fallen together, Seth's eyes still seemed to be pouring hatred out on whatever foe they'd been fighting. Next was Rain, a Prinplup now by the looks of it, crouched beside a Raichu I'd never seen before. Even Reo was there, an Alakazam now.

I couldn't help but wonder where I'd been with this had happened. I'd figured I'd be with my friends no matter what, but I wasn't in the hole with them. I looked into the darkest crevices of the hole, but still I saw nothing. I watched the bodies for a moment longer, half-expecting one of them to leap up and start talking. They didn't. I forced myself to look away, I couldn't handle watching their battle-pained faces any longer.

It was only then that sound finally met my ears. Real, human sound. I turned quickly in the direction of the sound, ears perked. I could hear the sound of footsteps on the crumbled road, and the sound of gentle crying. All I could see was a dark shadow approaching the other side of the hole. I tried to get a closer, but the world suddenly fell apart on top of me, sending me falling through darkness.

Gasping for breath, I leaped up from sleep. I looked swiftly to all sides, seeing the many pillars lit up by the morning sun. The dream raced through my mind, but I tried to shove it down, allowing reality to take control. It took me a moment to remember I where I was- on the top of Mt Coronet, where I'd just defeated Commander Danica of Team Blasters.

_Danica…_

I'd collapsed after rescuing her from the pile of pillar stones, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I ran behind the pillars, searching for her, but she was gone. I could only hope she'd learned her lesson. I sighed as I began the trek down through the cave. My pawsteps felt heavy as I plodded down the hand-carved stairs within the mountain. I'd just won the greatest battle of my life, but I still felt defeated, like I was missing something very important.

The dream swirled in my head over and over again, like a song with a catchy tune. Only difference was that I didn't want to remember it. I shuddered as I saw my friends in my mind's eye, all dead in the hole. I could still hear the girl crying. I could see the crumbling city. The dream was like a memory almost, so vivid and impossible. It was so confusing; why were they in the human world? Why was it such a dark and dead place? Why was that girl the only living person…the only living _anything _in the whole city? One question stood out over all the rest: how could that have happened?

For one horrible second I could see the girl crying again, a hunched shadow next to the gaping hole. I couldn't imagine what must have happened to that poor girl. The only thing worse than dying would be to be the one last to die. She must have been devastated.

At last, a final question ran through my mind: What if it were real? I cringed at the thought of such a cruel fate for all my friends. It was too horrible, it couldn't be real. I'd never let that happen to my friends. Never! A feeling of desperation suddenly came over me as I rocketed through the cave. I had to get to my friends. What if they were in trouble? I needed to protect them at all costs!

No Pokemon attacked me on my way down the twisting passageways of Mt. Coronet. I was grateful for that; I didn't need anything holding me back. I still had plenty of breath as I leaped down the ladder on the entrance floor of the cave. I streaked to my right and broke out into the shining daylight. I paused as I stood in front of the entrance, trying to remember which way I had to go to get to Team Blasters' ship. Was it right? Maybe it was left…There was sand on both, and thanks to the new lake the Sinnohians built, the sound of water came from either side of me as well.

"Whoa! An Arcanine!" a voice yelled out in excitement. I twisted in surprise to see a young girl standing on the sand, her auburn hair loose and flowing in the wind.

"A trainer?" I mumbled, "I really don't have time for this…" I turned away from her…only to run smack into a Flygon. Literally. I stumbled backwards in confusion. "Uh, hi," I said, not sure what was going on.

"Good job, Trench!" the girl yelled out as she ran up next to him.

I could only stare at the Flygon…Trench, I guess. "You're with her?" I asked, my voice breaking. I really didn't have time for this, but it didn't look like this girl was going to make it easy for me to get away. To make it worse, Trench looked pretty strong.

"Yep, I'm Trench, Miranda's most trusted Pokemon. Now if you don't mind, Arcanine, my trainer would like to capture you. It's battle time," Trench answered. I quickly judged him to be a boy by his voice.

"Don't have time to, I have to go," I said. I sprinted to the side, soaring towards the edge of the sand. I was hardly five feet away before I heard the girl order her Flygon to chase after me. I used an Extremespeed attack to sprint ahead faster, but where I was skilled in speed on the ground, Flygon were skilled in speed in the air. I wouldn't be able to stay ahead of him for long. I used another Extremespeed attack to get an extra boost and nearly plunged into the water. Fortunately, I skidded to a stop just before reaching the waterline.

I looked up both sides of shore, searching for the ship. I was at the ocean, that was for sure, all I had to do was look at the giant waves to know as much. The ship should've been here, but I didn't see it. Finally, I caught sight of the ship, but it had already left. I could see it fading into the distance ahead, its color unmistakable.

I'd missed the ship. I was stuck in Sinnoh. And I had a giant dragon at my back.

No sooner had I realized the ship had left than did a green blur pass before my eyes. Suddenly I was hit broadside by a solid Wing Attack and was sent flying across the sand. I flailed in the air, trying to keep from losing control. I still ended up landing in a heap. Sand flew up from all sides, blinding me. I leaped to my feet and shook myself, trying to get rid of the sand.

Only problem, that did nothing to get rid of the sand. Sand swirled through the air; I had to squint to keep it from getting in my eyes. I couldn't see more than two feet in front of me; there was no telling where Trench was at. I walked forward, slowly and carefully. I perked my ears, but the sandstorm was the only thing I could hear.

I closed my eyes, desperately trying to sense where Trench was at. A shiver ran up my spine as I suddenly felt as though I was being watched. That had to be Trench. I turned toward the general direction I'd thought I'd felt him and fired a Flamethrower. The sandstorm was so hard that it stopped the attack like a shield, all I managed to do was singe some sand.

"Boo." The voice came from behind me. I turned in time to be impaled by a giant wave of purple. It was a Dragon Pulse attack and it ripped through my body. I dug my claws into the sand out of instinct as I screamed in pain. The attack finally stopped and I was left with my strength heavily sapped. Trench remained in front of me, unmoving. I charged whatever fire was left within me and let it loose on him. All that came out were a couple of Embers that didn't leave the slightest of marks on him.

I weakly began backing away. _'I have to run…_' I thought as I stared him in the eyes. '_I have to help my friends! I can't be here! I have to run!' _I turned to run, but it was like I was moving in slow motion. The sand penetrated my fur and threatened to blind me. It was like running through a brick wall. I dared take a glance behind me, but Trench was gone. I suddenly felt cold.

_He could be anywhere…_

I dashed hard, trying to move as fast as I could against the buffeting storm. Laughter suddenly erupted from all around me, and then silence. A whisper echoed through my ear. "The sand is my element, landling," it said mockingly.

"No!" I shouted.

"Yes, oh yes." The world suddenly burst into colors as purple and blue flames crashed into my body. I twirled in confusion, and the moment I saw him using his Dragonbreath attack, he leaped forward with wings shining. "You'll thank me for this." It was the last thing I heard before he brought his metallic wing down on the back of my head.

I immediately sailed into darkness, but managed to retain at least some level of consciousness. I'd lost complete control of my body and I couldn't see a thing, but I could still hear. With terror in my soul I heard the sandstorm die down into nothing. Soon after, the click I'd heard so many times…both while watching Pokemon TV shows while I was still human and while watching trainers battle here, echoed in my ears.

This time though, the battle was over. And that click…that click was meant for me. I heard the pokeball cutting through the air, the sound an insult to my ears. Then an eruption of mechanical sounds. I could feel my body being sucked into the pokeball, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I heard three quick blips, then nothing.

It was over, I was caught. My friends would have to face that horrible fate without me.

I'd failed.


	61. Archy

**Sorry, **

I will not be able to update again until Mid-May. It has come _that _time of year again: AP testing. I need to dedicate my time to the needs of school, work, church, and other things that demand my time and energy. I apologize for this, and I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter. With everything going on, it was all I could manage. Well, enjoy the chapter and study hard,

Pika!

**Chapter 60: **Archy

The darkness was everywhere, surrounding me, devouring me. I was lost in an ocean of black, tumbling farther down into infinity. I felt like I should be feeling pain, from the beating I took from that Flygon, but I felt nothing. I was just there, so insignificant that not even misery desired to visit me any longer. I felt utterly alone, not even the blackness offered me a companion. My every thought echoed back to me tenfold, deafening me. Panic rose from deep within me, but was somehow restrained, preventing me from running headlong into paralyzing terror.

_This is what it's like to be captured…_ I remembered all those times I'd played my Pokemon games, capturing Pokemon after Pokemon, trying to get closer to Dex completion. I could easily imagine some of them being just like me: a Pokemon on a mission. I'd taken away those Pokemons' freedom and left them to rot in these horrid pokeballs. Just for a higher number.

Now I was paying the price. I could almost hear the mocking laughter of all those Pokemon. Needless to say, I felt ashamed. Emotions slowly overwhelmed me. Panic may not be able to gain advantage, but emotion had all the rule it desired.

Time passed and my spirits sank. I reveled in the darkness, wishing for brighter days. To tell the truth, I wasn't even sure if time had passed. I could've been there for five minutes or five years, time really has no meaning when you're floating in a mindless vacuum. All too suddenly, my situation changed. I was no longer surrounded by the silent deafening ether, but by a soft noise and color. Bands of blue and green flew by at my sides again and again. Each time, I felt a little better. I still couldn't feel physically, but the bands were definitely making me feel better emotionally. The soft noise sang in a sweet, swift tune, one I recognized, but couldn't initially place.

Suddenly all sounds stopped and I was left to drift once more. No sooner had I succumbed to darkness, though, than did light burst out from every direction, gripping me and wrenching me out of my ball with such surprising force that I couldn't fight back. I was suddenly rocketing through a sea of light as it changed to red and I felt my body piecing itself swiftly together. It didn't hurt in the least, on the contrary it was sort of refreshing. A strange hum echoed in the back of my mind as the red light faded into nothing and I was left with blinding stars in my eyes. The hum slowly faded and the stars with it.

Blinking, I looked around the place. It was a Pokemon Center! I knew I'd recognized that sound! Some trainer was healing his Pokemon at the healing station now, I guessed we'd just left the line. I gave a brief stretch and yawned. It felt good to be in the real world again. There weren't many people here. It looked like it was just me, that new trainer lady of mine, the Flygon, Trench, and the boy healing his Pokemon. _Joy must be on break, _I thought with a small laugh. Nurse Joys nearly never took breaks, it was a reputation for them.

While I was off thinking in my own world, a hand suddenly alighted on my back and began stroking my strangely now-tidied fur. I jerked in surprise and whirled to see that it was none other than my new trainer. I only stared at her, not sure of what to do. I was her Pokemon now, wasn't I? Do trainer's Pokemon like to get petted? It made me feel like…a dog or something. Okay…maybe that's to be expected, but there was no chance I'd be rolling over and letting her pet my belly! She smiled at me as she stared me in the eyes.

"You need a name, Aracanine," she said. I gave a weary look, afraid of what she might decide to name me.

"It's Celli," I said, out of some strange hope that she could understand me. Trench, who was standing off to my right, stifled a laugh. I tossed a glare at him before focusing back on my new 'master.'

"Hm…you look pretty strong and fast…" she mumbled to herself, pondering, "I know! How about Archy!" My jaw dropped. _Someone kill me now…_

"Number one: I'm not a boy, and number two…what the crap does strong and fast have to do with Archy!?" I screamed. Trench had nearly gone into a fit of laughter by now, only standing up because he had his claws dug into the counter.

"Well," he laughed, "You do know the strongest Arcanine in the world is named Archy, right? Although Archy's owner prefers to call her Archy-chan. You could be Archy-wannabe!" I gave him a cold stare.

"You're lucky I don't kill you now," I growled.

"Archy it is, then!" the girl sang triumphantly. _Great…_ "Well, Archy, I need to tell you some stuff that I tell all my new Pokemon."

"The Rules," Trench added with a wink.

"First off, I'd like for you to know that you're the first Pokemon I've captured in the Sinnoh region. I come from Hoenn, where I caught Trench here as a Trapinch. We conquered the gyms and the elite four, but when it came time for the semi-finals, we lost everything. So now, we're starting over. It's just me and him so far; I left the rest of my Pokemon to be cared for by my Aunt and Uncle, who are Pokemon Ranchers. I already defeated all the gyms here in Sinnoh using the Technical Gym Program at my community college in Hoenn. We're just training now to try and tackle the elite four here. Secondly, no Pokemon of mine travels in a Pokeball. I'm very sorry that you had to stay in one in so I could get you to the Pokemon Center, but you looked to weak to walk there yourself." She rattled on like that for a few more minutes, but I stopped paying attention when she said I wouldn't have to travel in a pokeball. I desperately wanted to get back to my friends, and the lack of a pokeball only made that possibility all the more obtainable.

Once she finally stopped talked, I gave her a nod and a bark. I think that was all she wanted, because she declared it to be time to go right after. I shrugged and followed after her, Trenchwalking at my side.

"Celli, huh? You must've had some wacked up parents!" he declared with a laugh. I very nearly attacked him then, but I forced my fury to subside. This had been much too an eventful day, I didn't want to make it any more colorful.

"Watch what you say," I whispered. He shrugged before proceeding to change the subject.

This was going to be a long training trip.


	62. The Night Winds

**A/N: **Sorry for the lateness of this update. I was a bit busy while the school year was going on, and I have only recently gotten enough time to write. Also, I've created a sort of backup system. Before updating the story, I'll make sure to always have the next update ready. This way, you won't have to be burdened by long periods of non-updating.

Thank you to Charmander Hero, thunder-light1, NewProphecy, smilezz123, and Kitsunelover300 for reviewing! Enjoy!

**Chapter 61: **The Night Winds

"Remind me not to go with you guys when you decide to cross the ocean suddenly," Timothy said as he entered the Petalburg Pokemon Center, his clothes dripping wet. He shivered suddenly as the cold air from inside wafted around him. He really was drenched, and the salty ride had ripped into his shirt, making it both wet beyond belief and threadbare. "This was my favorite shirt too!" he mumbled as he stumbled towards the bathroom while stripping off the Lugia-printed shirt and jean jacket.

"Wasn't that guy a major thief when we met him?" Rachel asked as she looked for a booth for them all to sit in.

"Yeah. You've gotta wonder what happened to him. Originally with Team Blasters or not," Gregor answered. He peered out the glass door briefly to see the rest of the group was still outside, drying off in the sinking sun.

"Remind me to ask him later," Rachel said.

"Will do," Gregor responded. "Hm, I guess it's just like old times now, huh? Just me and you." Rachel gave him a strange look.

"It's hard to be like old times when it's so _not_ like old times."

"You know, like when we arrived here. Before we got ourselves a huge gang."

"Like I want to remember how terrified we were of a Charmander," Rachel said as she climbed up into a booth. Gregor fluttered up and sat across from her.

Gregor gave the best smile he could with a Pidgeot beak. "Well, when you put it that way…"

"Whatever happened to that Rin-Vulpix thing, you think?" Rachel asked.

"Does it matter?"

"I'm not exactly one to take to being called a freak. What kind of crazed Pokemon saves you, then freaks out and runs when they find out you were once human? Kind of an over-reaction if you ask me." Before Gregor could respond, the door to the Pokemon Center fell open and everyone piled inside the building. Rain ran in ahead of everyone else, looking strained and exhausted.

"I NEVER want to do that again!" she cried out as she fell down flat on her face. "Rain has spoken!" She stayed still with her beak to the floor. A few moments later, a loud snore resounded in the small building.

"I told her not to swim with me," Rachel said as she laughed at the fallen Piplup. "You should've seen her, Gregor. She was like a Magikarp."

"Too bad I couldn't see that," he replied with a snicker. Next in was Seth. He didn't look even slightly worse for wear.

"Saved you a spot!" Rachel called to the Grovyle. Gregor rolled his eyes.

"Coming! Um, is she sleeping?" Seth asked as he stepped over the blue lump, which was still snoring.

"Long story," Rachel laughed as Seth slid into the seat.

"We don't have time for this nonsense!" Reo the Abra chimed as he walked in. "How many times must I say it! It's enough we've interfered with the natural path of things!" He angrily took his place on the booth. "She is not here, you numbskulls," he stated slowly, as though they were a pile of kindergarteners. Which they probably were at the moment. Salty air does things to you.

"Where is she then?" Gregor asked.

"I don't have a clue, but not here."

"That helps." Just then, the door to the bathroom opened and Timothy stepped out, now wearing a gray tank top. He held his threadbare shirt in his salt-streaked hands. He looked sort of jittery, and Gregor could easily see why. There was a rather large scar on his shoulder. It was pink as if it was fresh, but it showed signs of many years' worth of healing. He looked over to Rachel and could tell that she was thinking about the same thing. They really didn't know a thing about Timothy, except that he used to be with Team Blasters, but quit when he recognized Marius. He seemed extremely touchy, as though some dark secret had just been exposed. Maybe one had.

"I'll need to get a new shirt," he said as he dropped into the booth and picked up a menu. The gray tank top fit him well enough; it highlighted his muscles and tense abs. He looked like one of those models for a men's magazine. Gregor could tell, though, that the boy had no interest in modeling. At least not now. Not with that scar. "So what do you guys want to eat? I'm short of short on money, so does generic Pokemon food sound-" As he was speaking, another enormous snore erupted from Rain. Timothy stared at her for a few moments and shook his head slowly.

"I think that'll work for her," Rachel said.

"I've got her," Reo mumbled as he held his hand up and grabbed hold of thin air. He pulled Rain up off the floor with his psychic powers and levitated her over to our table. She was still sleeping, still snoring. He set her down gently at the very end of the booth where she could sleep without the fear of being stepped on.

"Ooookayyy," Timothy said as he turned back to the menu. "Generic Pokemon food then?"

"Why not?" Gregor asked, "It's not like this place sells steaks." Timothy took his chirp to mean yes and so called over a waiter to the table.

About half an hour later, everyone had eaten and Timothy had purchased a room for the night in the Pokemon Center's nearby lodge. The room wasn't too horrible. It looked like a completely normal hotel room, minus the fridge and bathroom. The bathroom was out in the hallway and had to be shared with all other guests on the floor. Some of the furniture on the room needed a touch-up or two, and the television only received three channels, but it was acceptable, considering its price.

Darkness had quickly descended upon Petalburg, and most of the group was ready to embrace it for a good night's sleep. Most of them. Timothy was out before his head touched the pillow. Reo looked to be meditating. Rain had not woken up, but her snores were much softer now. Seth and Rachel lay near each other on the bed, both soundly asleep. The television still buzzed on a game show channel that they'd turned on upon entering the room. The light from it gently stroked the sleeping forms, and its noise, though somewhat loud, served as blissful music to their dreary ears. Gregor and Reo were the only ones still awake.

Reo was too far gone into his meditation to notice it when Gregor quietly opened the loose window with his beak. The light from the television dappled on his freshly preened feathers and deformed him into a monster of half-light. He checked back on his friends once more, and he reveled in their calmness. He'd seen the very same faces through happiness and tragedy, but almost never so calm. He forced himself to turn away and peered into the moonlit forest laid out before him.

Things had been moving much too slowly for him, and for as long as he would have to wait for the others before doing anything, he knew nothing would ever get done. Tonight, he wanted answers, and he would not return until he got them. There were so many things he wanted to know. Timothy's past, the truth behind Team Blasters, Celli's whereabouts, everything! He jumped out onto the ledge of the window and stretched his wings wide on open air.

"Gregor?" came a sleepy voice from behind him. Gregor froze in place as he listened to the mattress squeak in tortured resistance. "Gregor, where are you going?" He could recognize the voice now. It was Rachel. He slowly dropped his wings and turned to her.

"I'll be back," Gregor said in a hurried whisper. "Before the Sun's up, I'll be back." Rachel started pulling herself up on the windowsill.

"I'll come too," she said.

"No, I need to do this, Rachel," he said. "Nothing will happen, promise."

"That's not it. You're curious, aren't you? Don't answer, it's obvious. Curiosity killed the Meowth."

"There're just so many things that I don't know! I have to find out. I miss her, Rachel."

"We all do, but-" She didn't get to finish her sentence, because Gregor was gone. She grunted as she watched him flitting off into the distance with powerful strokes of his large wings. She couldn't place, but he looked different when he was flying like that, with his colorful head feathers swirling in the wind and his wings moving in harmony with the nature surrounding him. "Good luck, then, I guess," she said as she slipped back onto the ground, turning her back on the deranged bird.

He wasn't at all like the careful, suspicious person that he used to be, but then again Rachel figured she'd changed as well. Rachel quietly made her way across the carpeted floor and slipped into bed next to Seth.

"You're worried about him," he said with his eyes cracked open a sliver.

"Just a bit," she responded as she moved closer to him.

"He'll be fine, count on it…I've seen worse than midnight flights in my life," Seth added grimly.

"Have you now?" Rachel questioned.

"I'll tell you later, for now you should sleep." With that, he closed his eyes. Rachel gave one last look out the window before settling down to sleep.

Gregor enjoyed the feeling of wind on his wings as he dashed through the forest. He moved with expert precision, diving and rising and rolling to avoid the many branches in his way. He passed through like a shadow, barely making the leaves to rustle. He felt one with the sky and all its powers. He manipulated the wind to do his bidding and twisted through low-lying clouds. As he flew deeper into the forest, it rapidly got thicker and thicker. The moon was his only guiding light, and even that was diminishing.

Suddenly, the forest was gone. It was like he'd flown off the edge of the world. Only seconds later, reality struck him as he gazed down at the land beneath. It was charred and destroyed. He caught the slightest scent of burning in the air, but it was old. No life had started to sprung up here yet, it was all gray and black. The sight repulsed him and shot him back to the day it had happened. He'd been here, out with the group trying to find and save Celli from Team Blasters. He and everyone else had ended up faced with a huge, devastating battle amidst forest fire.

Gregor forced himself to look ahead; he couldn't stand to see it any longer. That day had been hard for everyone, he didn't want reminders of it right then. He took only slight comfort in the fact that Team Blaster's HQ would be close by. The echo of heat sent him higher into the sky and he soared over the treetops as he sped above the healthy forest. Not too far ahead, he could see the soft moonbeams reflecting off of something. This must be the place, he realized.

He slowed as he began is descent, making large circles around the place as he surveyed the nearby land. It was hidden well enough, and painted dark green to help. It was definitely a building though, and a large one at that. Gregor landed softly on its roof and peered down at the ground below. The entrance to the building was directly below him, so he figured that if there were any people inside, they'd come out that way. It didn't appear that he'd been noticed. That was good.

Satisfied, he turn back to the roof to find a way inside that didn't involve walking through the front door. He was greeted by a giant Dragonair that looked extremely angry. Gregor was so surprised that he jumped backwards and had to catch himself with his wings to keep from falling to the ground.

"Why are you here?" the dragon Pokemon demanded. There was an angry spark in its eyes and its tail had begun to glow. Gregor could see the moon's gleam coming off of it. It was an Iron Tail attack, and it was ready to go. "I said why!" it raged and very nearly whacked him in the head with its tail.

"I'm just looking for my friend!" Gregor yelped as he jumped into the air to avoid another lash of the beast's tail.

"And who might that be?" it growled. The glow on its tail faded. Gregor hoped that this meant he wouldn't be attacked again.

"Her name's Celli. She went with Team Blasters on a mission to Sinnoh. She should be back by now," Gregor explained. At the mention of Celli's name, the Dragonair's expression instantly softened.

"I have heard much about this Celli," it explained with a small nod.

"You have! Who told you? Where is she? Can you help me?" Gregor asked frantically, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"So many questions…" it said with a sigh. "My name is Crimson, what's yours?" Crimson gave him a skeptical eye, as if expecting a certain answer. As if it already knew the answer.

"Gregor," he responded. Crimson's expression lit up.

"Very good. I think I know of someone you'd want to meet." With that, it gracefully swirled into the air and hovered there, in the middle of the night sky. "If you can keep up, that is."

"Of course I can," Gregor said as he opened his wings wide and jumped off the building. The light of excitement was in his eyes. He felt as though he'd seen this Dragonair before, but couldn't place it. All the same, he had a strange trust in it, even if it had just tried to attack him.

The Dragonair was fast. It moved through the trees like a dart of wind, and even Gregor with his raptor vision could only see a blue blur at times. He couldn't imagine how it kept from running into things. It was all he could do to keep it in sight while careening at top speed. He definitely wasn't the seamless shadow any longer. He was sure he was creating quite the ruckus. Could thing they were far into the forest by now.

When Crimson stopped, Gregor very nearly ran into it. "We're here," she said quietly and for the first time, Gregor could pick a gender out of its voice. It was a girl.

"Where's here?" Gregor asked as he looked around. They had stopped close to a small forest lake that reflected the shining moonlight. It was like the sky was below them and above them. A strange feeling to be sure, but it still looked beautiful. Gregor could see no signs of life around them, just the gentle breeze through the leaves.

"It's our camp," Crimson explained as she slowly drifted towards the ground. Gregor followed after her and soon made a swift landing on the grassy forest floor. "Follow me." She hovered just above the ground as she led Gregor deeper into the forest. The trees were thick here, which Gregor figured would be a good a place to hide as any. Crimson slipped in between the trunks of two giant evergreens. Gregor followed her in, and then froze in his place.

"This can't be…" he rasped. "Y-You're still in the hospital!" Sitting around a fire in front of him were three figures. He only barely knew two of them, but it was the third that caught his attention.

"Is that you, Gregor?" asked a smooth voice that Gregor only knew too well.

"Marius!" he yelled as he flew over to him. He was in his jacket and hat, just the same as when he'd last seen him. "I have so much to tell you!"

Marius sat Gregor down in front of him. The two others with him looked on.

"You know that bird?" One of them, a girl asked.

"Yes, Lauren," he answered as he briefly looked over at the Jolteon/Vaporeon Combiomorph. "He's my friend." He turned back to Gregor. "Do you know where Celli is?" he asked. Gregor's expression suddenly turned downcast.

"That's part of what I have to tell you," he said. With that, he began telling Marius about all the things that had happened while he was gone.

While they were talking, no one noticed the dark form sitting in the bushes nearby. He was silently listening, his entire being attentive to the words being passed. His eyes were on the older boy, a man of nearly 25 according to his records. This was the one he wanted.

There were too many people here, and he knew he wasn't ready for what he had to do. He listened for a few more minutes with the tape recorder in his hand catching every noise. Before he could be noticed, he dashed away into the forest, merely another of the millions of shadows dancing on the forest's ground.


	63. Mad Dash

**A/N: **Whew, well here's one whopper of a chapter. I think I'm beginning to average at about six single-spaced pages per chapter, a number that I'm sure will go up. When I first started writing here I wrote about 2-3 pages per chapter and thought that was a lot, after all.

While I'm talking here, I'd like to notify you, the reader, that I've started a new project that I'm hoping will grow even larger than Periwinkle here. I only have the prologue up of it so far, but more will be added soon. It's called Crimson Rain: The Vengeance, please read it if you have time.

Thank you to NewProphecy, Charmander Hero, ultima-owner, and Lightning-Alchemist-Rini for your reviews. Enjoy!

**Chapter 62: Mad Dash**

I hustled behind my new trainer. She was flying on Trench's back, and I was trying to keep up from the ground. This is what Trench described as "speed training." Running had always come naturally to me, but now that I was being forced to run for long distances, it was starting to get harder.

"Slow down!" I called to the desert spirit. Trench was probably the fastest Pokemon alive, being a Flygon and all. He had a habit of slowing down for a few moments, then suddenly dashing so fast that I couldn't see him anymore.

He was definitely worthy of the title of The Desert Spirit. We were racing across a beach, but for all I was concerned, it was a desert. And a freaking huge one at that.

To make it worse, every time Trench flapped his oversized insect wings, sand splattered up in a miniature sandstorm. "Watch it!" I barked as he flapped especially close to the ground, forcing a wave of sand rolling behind him.

"You're such a sissy!" he called back in that immature voice of his. I groaned.

I'd been traveling with my new trainer for a couple of days now. It had been a constant on-the-go training routine the entire time. There really wasn't much time for talking, but during the few times that we did stop, I managed to learn a few more things about my new trainer. First of all, I learned her name. It was Mariah. Second, and this one was thanks to Trench, I learned that Mariah enjoyed Pokemon contests, especially the part where she got to dress her Pokemon up. That had earned a groan from me, which Trench had laughed at heartily.

Even with the constant training, my friends remained most prominent in my mind. I was always worrying for them and creating half-whacked plans to try and return to them. I often cursed the idiot being who brought me here, whoever it was, for making me into a fire-type. With a sigh, I realized that I had chosen to be a fire-type myself when I first played Pokemon Periwinkle.

"We're almost done!" the calm feminine voice of my new trainer called back, breaking through my thoughts. I gave a wordless bark in reply and she nodded. I hoped that this was the end of training for the day. There was only so much hardcore running I could handle. With the last of my energy, I used an Extremespeed attack to give a quick burst to my speed. I caught up to Trench in less than a second; he'd been a good 20 or 30 yards ahead.

"Let's get this over with," I told him when he looked down to me. He smirked as he trimmed his wings.

"Ready…" he said as he gave a slow wing flap that raised him a bit higher in the air. "Set…" He pulled his arms and feet to his body and let his tail straighten up behind him. He raised his wings high, gliding. "Go!" His wings rushed down and he was speeding forward, moving so fast that he was nothing more than a blur. I raced behind him, my legs moving faster as I dashed as fast as I could. As I reached what I thought was my top speed, I felt the feral Instinct suddenly begin moving inside of me, seeping into my dashing limbs.

Suddenly, I was moving faster than I ever thought I could move. It was like an Extremespeed attack, but much, much faster. My running rapidly became more fluid and consistent. The wind rushed at me and twisted my mane in its mindless grasp. I was running like a wild Arcanine now, but I could still feel the Instinct spreading within me. It didn't concern me all too much; I'd already beaten it before after all. It would be easy enough to beat it again.

In moments, I heard something above me, but it was gone before I could figure out what it was. I didn't want to. No, not now, not while I was experiencing this. I felt like I was about to fly off the ground; I was running so fast! When I looked down to my feet, I couldn't see them. All I could see was an orange blur. I laughed as I pumped my legs faster and faster. Who knew running could be so much fun!

With every motion, I felt sand being kicked up behind me. I imagined the sand flying up and forming brief sandstorms, just like how it did when Trench flapped his wings. I was giddy with the pleasure of running, and it didn't help much that the instinct was rapidly winding its way through the rest of my body.

Suddenly, a noise broke through my entranced state. I could only barely hear it, but it took me so off guard that I slowed down a bit, nearly tripping over myself in the process. With the sound, reality suddenly zipped back to me and I realized I was running through long grass. When had I left the beach? The noise from behind me came again, but this time I could understand it. Someone was calling my name. Well, my new name.

"Archy!" someone yelled out, crystal clear this time. I snapped my head back to see Mariah riding on Trench. They were moving very slowly, which struck me as strange, especially since Trench looked like he was locked into a painful burst of speed. I could see the sweat rolling down his face.

I hooted a laugh as I realized that I was moving faster than Trench could go, even when he strained himself. And it was easy too! Just then, I felt the instinct recoil inside of me, freeing my limbs of its grip as it retreated to wherever it went when it wasn't trying to control me.

My speed dropped immediately as control returned to me. Not fast enough, though. When I looked ahead again, I saw that I was on a collision course with one of those weird route connecting houses that people stopped in for a rest.

It was about fifty feet away from me. WAY too close.

I froze my limbs in midair and prepared for impact with the ground. It was my only way to keep from hitting the wall; it was much too late to change direction, not at the speed I was going anyway.

I sailed through the air at the breakneck speed of close to 100 miles per hour, the top speed for an Arcanine. The space between the wall of the guesthouse and me was rapidly getting shorter. I was afraid that my last stride may have pushed me too far. My eyes darted back so I could Mariah and Trench getting closer. She was searching through her bag for something with a look of desperation plastered across her face. She was saying something, but I couldn't hear what.

Then I hit the ground.

The ground tore into my fur and I found myself instinctively lashing out with my claws against the tall grass around me, trying to get a grip. I twisted and rolled on the rocky earth. It was like a car crash, but without the car. I was lost in confusion as the world switched from blue to green to brown constantly. I couldn't tell which way was which or where my paws were grappling for something to hold on to. I gasped for breath as I struggled to stop myself.

Suddenly, I rammed straight into a hard surface with my back, effectively stopping me. My head swung back with the inertia and slammed into the guesthouse wall. I saw stars for a few seconds, but my sight quickly returned. My back ached and I was frozen to the spot as a terrible pain moved up and down my body in waves. I was sure I'd broken something, but I assumed it wasn't my back by the way I could feel pain all over me.

All I could hear was the rush of blood and my heartbeat fluttering so fast it was like it wasn't beating at all. The sound echoed in my ears, leaving me stunned and confused. At least I could see where I was now. I was lying on my side with the blue, green, and brown all where they should be. Trench was in front of me in seconds, landing gracefully and not running into a wall. He could stop the inertia with his wings; I had no way of stopping it. I cursed myself for choosing Growlithe.

"Archy!" I was sure she'd yelled my name, but I could only hear it as a whisper above the manic sounds of my body. I shuddered as I took quick breaths, trying to calm myself down. I watched Mariah pull a pokeball from her pack, probably the thing she'd been searching for the entire time.

"Are you okay, Celli?" It almost made me laugh that Trench had used my real name. He'd been prone to calling me the fake one lately.

"_Do I look okay?_" I wanted to ask him. No go on the talking, unfortunately.

"Get in the ball," Mariah whimpered. I could see her hands shaking as she clasped it tight. I looked from the ball to her face. My thoughts were sluggish and confused; I could only barely understand what she was asking. I inched my front paw forward towards the ball, but it hurt too much to reach all the way. Mariah watched, understanding that the motion meant 'Okay.'

She pressed the button as the ball leapt from her hand as a red beam darted out of it. I felt myself sucked into it as my body changed into a billion points of light. All the pain suddenly rushed away from me and I eagerly accepted the pokeball's mechanical embrace. I drifted into the ball as the red beam drew me inside. Once in, the unnatural darkness rushed at me, but I could care less. It was practically comforting.

I felt the urge to sleep rising from within me, the urge to fall into a deep, healing sleep. Before I collapsed to sleep, however, one last thought crossed my mind: '_I hope my friends are doing better than I am…'_

_

* * *

_

"To tell the truth," Gregor said as he finished off his conversation with Marius, "Nothing too terrible has happened since you went into a coma. Everyone's perfectly healthy. The only problem is…no one knows where Celli is!"

Marius looked pained to hear the news, but seemed content that everyone else in the group was doing well. The two had talked deep into the night, sharing stories. Lauren, who had explained that she used to be an admin for Team Blasters, but was turned into a combiomorph as punishment for something she did but wouldn't reveal, talked to Gregor as well, explaining how she'd come across Marius. Crimson and the man Lauren was sitting next to never said anything the entire time.

The dark blue of the sky was slowly becoming lighter and lighter, and Gregor knew he would have to get back very soon.

"I just can't believe you're back…and you're here!" Gregor said. He was so excited that he was stumbling over his words. His expression suddenly turned downcast as he looked up at the sky for the umpteenth time that night. He would have to leave very soon if he expected to get back to the hotel before sunrise.

He was staring intensely at the sky. Lauren smirked as she watched him before sitting down next to him and staring up as well. Gregor didn't even notice her as she mimicked his movements.

"I see it too!" she suddenly said. Gregor nearly fell over when he heard her outburst, but rocketed into the sky instead.

"What!" he asked in surprise.

"Your mind. It flew away a while ago, but I see it now. It's right…there," she said as she pointed up in the middle of the sky. Gregor rolled his eyes.

"Very funny…" he muttered, embarrassed.

"Pleasure," Lauren said with a wide grin that covered her face.

"You're so good at that, maybe you should try to get hired by the Cheshire cat," Gregor commented, but the statement was beyond her. With a sigh, Gregor realized that no human had been whacked up enough in this world yet to create something like "Alice in Wonderland" just yet.

"Where did you say you were staying?" Marius asked as Gregor landed.

"At a hotel on the edge of the forest. It's owned by the Pokemon Center, so it's all decorated red and white," Gregor explained.

"Alright," Marius said with a nod. He tilted his fedora and smirked at Gregor. "We'll join you soon. You'd best get back before Rachel decides to send out a search party." Gregor flushed; he'd almost forgotten that he'd told Marius about that.

"See you soon then," Gregor said as flew quickly into the air. He stayed high above the forest this time, so he wouldn't have to deal with trying to fly through the thick of the forest. It was only forest for as far as he could see, so he began searching for the first major landmark that would help to guide him out: the Team Blasters base. It suddenly struck him that he hadn't yet explored the base. Lauren had told him that nothing was in it anymore, but he wanted to know for sure. She said the last she checked was a few weeks ago, so Gregor figured that anything could have happened by then.

He quickly spotted the camouflaged building. Its metal roof was reflecting in what was left of the moonlight. He dashed toward it and landed on the ground next to it, rather than on top of it this time. He only had a few minutes, so he made sure he was quick. He leaned his feathered head against the metal side and closed his eyes as he listened.

Nothing. Not the slightest sound.

Maybe the building really had been abandoned.

After about five minutes of silence, Gregor was about to pull away and start flying back, but just as he got ready to move, he heard something. It was the slightest of noises, something he probably wouldn't have heard if it weren't for his raptor hearing. A footstep. It was a rushed sound, like someone was running in their socks. The footsteps suddenly stopped. Gregor heard another set of footsteps approaching where the first set had stopped.

"Sir!" the words were dimmed by the metal between Gregor and whoever the people were on the other side. Gregor had to strain to hear what was being said.

"Report. Did she return with Danica's crew?" asked the other one. Gregor held his breath. Could they be talking about Celli?

"Who, sir?"

"The girl that was transformed into a Pokemon! One of the five!" Gregor let out his breath. They were talking about Celli! But…five? Who was the fifth? He racked his memory and thought he could remember Rain saying something about it, but couldn't be sure.

"No, sir, she was not accounted for." His heart sank immediately. What had happened to her while she was on that ship?

"Blast it!" Gregor's thoughts echoed the man's. "We need her. Even if we gain all the others, we need her before we can move forward with our plan."

"Yes, sir. Apologies, sir."

"As I would expect. Apologies fix nothing, though." Gregor had flattened himself against the wall, trying to hear better. He pushed himself further, but his talons suddenly slipped and he collapsed noisily against the metal. His beak raked against it, causing a gruff metallic sound to echo.

"Did you hear that?" one of the men suddenly snapped.

"It was outside!" the other said. Gregor pulled himself to his feet. He could hear them stomping towards the door. He had to get away, and fast! He took off into the air just as the metal door creaked open. He dove into the trees when he heard shots flying out behind him and felt one whistle by his right wing. He could still hear them yelling, but the foliage between him and the men kept him safe.

He took a breath as he tried to process everything that had happened in his mind. It was all so outrageous, and so fast. He wasn't sure what to think.

All the same, he began his dash back to the lodge, moving as fast as he could to beat the sunrise.

He felt himself tense as he rushed headlong into the wind. Maybe Rain would be done snoring by the time he got back. That would be a relief.


	64. Strikeout

**A/N: **Whoo, this chapter took awhile to write. I'm pretty happy with the product though, I hope you enjoy it as well. Also, I will start updating this once a week, every Tuesday, unless I get enough reviews and readers that I feel it is safe to move up to two updates per week. That is, of course, up to you readers.

Thank you to NewProphecy, Meowly, soulreacher, and () for reviewing.

Chapter 63: Strikeout

"You're lucky it was only a bird," a man spat as he watched the bird dive into the forest, beyond the reach of their bullets. He lowered his gun to his side, and the younger man beside him took the action to mean a ceasefire.

"It was a Pidgeot, sir," the grunt reported automatically. He raised his hand to his forehead in a salute.

"At ease," the older man scoffed. "I don't care what kind of bird it was. It's gone, that's all I care about."

"But the boss said…" the grunt mumbled as he dropped his hand. He'd been told before his boss had left that any Pokemon disturbance be carefully noted, for it may be one of the humans turned Pokemon that he so desired.

"The boss is a freak. And so is his crazed sister. He left me in charge while he was gone. Me. Do you understand, grunt?" he barked as he stepped back inside the building. His boots clicked on the metal floor, echoing throughout the mostly empty building. It was a sad sight; the halls of Team Blasters were usually never this abandoned. That idiot Danica had taken most of the grunts off to Sinnoh to capture the legends. Ambitious little twerp. No wonder she failed. The grunt had much more respect for their valiant leader, Keith.

"Aaron…" the grunt whined, not ready to deny Keith's words.

The older man turned on the grunt, his temper flaring. "What did you call me?" he yowled.

"I-I," the grunt stuttered.

"What did you call me!" Aaron growled. "I want to hear it!"

"I called you Aaron!" the grunt squeaked. He didn't back away, though. He'd learned from other grunts that the worst thing to do when dealing with Executive Aaron was back away. Aaron's eyes narrowed to slits.

"That's what I thought. I am your superior. You do NOT refer to me by my first name. I am Executive Winfeld to you!" he waited to see how the grunt would react. The grunt looked terrified, and he thought he could see a hint of sweat on his eyebrow. His eyes kept moving from one place to the next, everywhere except Aaron's own eyes. He clicked his tongue. "Now that that's out of the way… are there any questions as to who makes the decisions here while Keith is out playing war games?"

The grunt could feel that the conversation was winding down, and he couldn't be more relieved that it was almost over. "No, sir," he said quickly with a sharp salute.

"Good," Aaron said as a huge grin passed over his face. "You are to report to room 263 at o-eight-hundred later this morning."

All the color suddenly drained from the grunt's face. He was frozen to the spot, his mouth gaping. He wish he didn't, but he knew exactly what Executive Winfeld meant. _Room 263..._ What had he done wrong? Why was he not permitted a second chance, for whatever it was that he'd done wrong? "You-You can't be serious," he rasped.

"I am," Aaron said as he crossed his arms. The action made the small symbol of a golden rocketship encased by wings on his jacket sleeve come into clear view of the grunt. It was the symbol that all Executives held. He smiled again. "You are a disrespectful coward. I'm just going to have to fix that."

"But the combiomorphs…" the grunt trailed off, imagining all the many transformations he'd seen. It looked so terrible, so painful. And so humiliating. Not to mention how you could easily get pounded to dust by the battle the follows directly after the change.

"They're wonderful, aren't they? It's hard to get volunteers nowadays, though. With kids like you here, though, who cares if we have volunteers?" Aaron gave the grunt a smug look. "I'll be generous, you can pick what Pokemon you want to be combined with. The grunt felt sick at the very thought.

"You're a terrible person," the grunt stated.

"How else do you think you can become an Executive of Team Blasters?" Suddenly, the radio at Aaron's waist crackled. He talked into it and the voice on the other side reported back. After a few moments he turned back to the grunt. "Good news, the idiot boss will be back at noon today. And he brought you a few friends. He did something good for once. I'm impressed."

The grunt twisted his way around Aaron and started off down one of the many corridors of Team Blasters HQ. He couldn't take talking to that loon of an Executive anymore.

"Wait!" Aaron called. "Have you chosen your Pokemon?" The grunt suddenly felt a surge of anger rip through him.

"Yeah!" he yelled as he ran back, his uniform boots thundering against the ground. "Make me part Salamence so I can kick your ass."

"Oh, my. The boy has a temper. Who would've thought little Nate could have a temper?" Aarong laughed. Nate screamed in outrage, and before he could stop himself, rammed straight into Aaron with the full force of his weight. Aaron hadn't been expecting it, and fell backwards. Nate was over him in an instant with his fist held high. He drove punch after punch into Aaron's face, blackening the soft skin around his eyes.

"Keith's not the idiot!" Nate scathed as he dug his knee into Aaron's stomach. "You are!" Just as he was about to throw another punch, Aaron kicked him to the side. Nate rolled noisily on the metal floor, but quickly regained his composure. Aaron was fumbling with his radio, trying to switch it to the right channel. No one would be saving him today. Nate drove into him like a linebacker and crushed him up against the wall. "Who's the coward now?" Nate asked.

"Security!" Aaron kept screaming over and over again. Before Nate could knock the radio away, Aaron managed to press the button and order security to the main lobby. Aaron jabbed Nate in the shoulder, making him lose his grip enough that Aaron was able to slip away from the wall. Nate heard the sound of security running down the halls before he saw them. But that was alright. It would be alright that he would be captured and turned into a combiomorph. It would be alright if he lived forever in torment and pain.

It was all alright, if only because he got to see Aaron afraid. Aaron was never afraid, but now with his face blackened and bloodied, Nate could see fear in his eyes. That made everything worth it. He hadn't gone down without a fight.

Security flooded around them, covering Nate on all sides. They each carried a lethal weapon, ready if needed. There was no use in running. Nate stared straight into Aaron's icy blue eyes as confidence crowded out the fear. "Salamence and what else?" he asked calmly. Nate glared at him, and then remembered the Pidgeot that had started this whole thing.

"Pidgeot," Nate answered. "Salamence and Pidgeot." The security behind Nate moved up and bound his wrists together. "Oh, and we'll move your transformation up to noon so that your precious Keith can watch. Along with all your new friends. It'll be great." Nate felt the itch to punch him again, but knew better. Moments later, he was being led off into the dark corridors of the base.

Nate was set free from his chain in a windowless temporary room. They locked the door from the outside, then left him alone. Nate groaned as he laid back on the small bed that had been placed in the room. It was rough, nothing like the bed he usually slept on when he went to his quarters every night. All the same, he laid his head back on the pillow, crazed thoughts zipping through his mind.

He obviously wasn't made for Team Blasters work; what on earth had made him join in the first place? The lure of the founder of the Team, Keith? Maybe, but as much as he respected his boss, he doubted it. It'd been years since he'd joined Team Blasters. He tried to remember back to what had spurred him into joining.

_I remember…_

_That was the night when…when everything fell apart…_

He'd been sitting by himself next to a dumpster, trying to take shelter from a spring rain. His only Pokemon, a Zigzagoon, sat huddled in his lap, shivering. He was only five years old, and had been living on the streets for a month. It had been hard to get over his parents' unexpected death- and he'd still lapsed into tears at least once a day- but he never regretted running away from the people who wanted to put him in with the other orphans.

His Zigzagoon, named Zippo, shuddered violently in his lap and he lifted him up into his arms so that he was looking at him in the face. His eyes looked dull, weak. He wasn't sure if the poor Pokemon could even see. He hugged the Pokemon close to himself, blocking his trembling body from the rain. Zippo sneezed a few times and Nate hugged him tighter. "It's almost over," Nate said. "The rain will go away and we can get some food."

Zippo had been Nate's best friends for all five years of his life so far. He and the Pokemon had been born at about the same time, just a week apart. They went through everything together. Now as they sat alone in the alley, it was no different. The only problem? Zippo was sick. Zippo coughed and Nate had to lift him away from his torn shirt to keep from getting the green stuff coming out of Zippo's mouth from getting on him.

"Zig…" Zippo mumbled when he finished his coughing fit.

Nate frowned at the small creature. He was so sick…Nate didn't think he could handle it if Zippo died. Nate stared up at the storm, watching constant lightning flit across the sky. The wind was fierce and the thunder loud; it was definitely not safe to be out in this weather.

Then again, safety was of minimum concern when your best friend is in trouble.

Nate leaped to his feet with Zippo in his arms. He was immediately assaulted by the rain, a giant sheet that pelted him to the bone. He pushed through it, unable to tell road from sidewalk as he ran out of the alley. The water was thick and impenetrable. Nate wondered for a moment how he could breathe in this tempest. He looked everywhere once he was out for the bright lights that signaled the Pokemon Center. He hoped that the lights would be bright enough to see.

He ran blindly, searching for the pink light. Zippo was shivering harder as he searched. After a few minutes, Nate began to feel panic growing from deep inside him. What if he couldn't find the Pokemon Center? What if he was terribly lost? What if Zippo died in his arms? He cringed at the latter, but forced himself not to give up.

As if an answer to his desperate need, he turned once more and saw lights looming close to him. They were very dull in the beating rain, and he could only see a few of them, but Nate assumed this meant that he could only see the awning. He ran towards the light, joy taking the place of frightened adrenaline.

The poor boy never knew what hit him.

Perhaps if the rain and wind weren't so loud and fierce, he would have heard the sound of a thundering engine behind those alluring lights. Perhaps if he were a bit older, his mind a bit better developed, he would have realized that the lights he saw did not belong on a Pokemon Center awning, but to a very large type of truck.

The truck was moving at close to thirty-five miles per hour when it hit Nate and Zippo.

Nate's unconscious body pierced the rain like a knife until he skidded across the slippery road. Zippo fell from his arms, and was lost to the tempest.

He woke only for a moment, to find himself curled on rough ground with bloodied limbs and scraped hands. He reached one arm out briefly, searching for his friend. His hand alighted only on the pavement. He felt a few tears come to his eyes as a gentle hand fell onto his side.

His eyes flashed up to see a man leaning over him, the storm casting him into blackness. Nate automatically reached out for him, looking for the comfort only another human could give. He was too young.

Too young and too weak not to trust a man who had almost killed him. The man slipped his arms around the boy, and Nate felt himself being lifted up.

Only then did he finally succumb to the darkness.

The next time Nate awoke, it was three days later, in a makeshift hospital room. He didn't feel any pain upon waking up, rather he was very lethargic and weak. He blinked his eyes a few times, and forms sharpened out of the blurred room.

He saw a woman leaning over him with a clipboard in her arms. She was scribbling furiously. After a few moments, she looked down to see Nate's eyes meeting her own. A relieved smile crossed her face. "That was a rough one," she said, "I'm glad you were able to pull through."

"I…" but Nate couldn't say anymore. The single syllable took a lot out of him. Instead, he gave her a look that said, 'Thank you.'

"Someone is here to see you," she said as she walked back and opened the door. Nate got a glimpse of cold steel lining the walls outside the room before the door closed shut again after his visitor was allowed in.

It was a strange person, the strangest he'd ever seen. It was definitely a man though, Nate could tell by his facial features. He spoke a few words to the woman, who hurriedly left after hearing him out. They were speaking too quietly for Nate to understand.

"Hello," the man said as he turned toward Nate. His skin was strangely colored- it was golden brown, and not like any race of human Nate had ever seen. It was like his skin had a pattern to it, and appeared to be very lightly furred. Two large, purple ears erupted from his head. They moved in a very fluid fashion, lowering as he approached the boy. Nate thought they were amazing, the way they moved. He stared at them, until he caught sight of a long, purple tail trailing the man from behind. It was forked.

Nate raised his eyebrows in reply, but was still watching the forked tail waving gently behind the man. He noticed, and then lifted the tail over Nate's bed. He gently allowed his tail to caress the boy's cheek. A wide grin spread across Nate's face. It felt like a soft blanket, the kind he used to sleep with back at home. The man brushed his tail against Nate's cheek again. Nate laughed and weakly reached out to hold it in his small hands.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you," the man started. "But don't worry, I'll make sure you get the best care possible. As soon as you're able to, we'll return you to your parents." Nate's expression suddenly turned downcast and he loosed his grip of the man's tail. The man instantly turned to worry. "What's wrong?"

"M-My…" Nate had to force the words out. "D-dead." The man looked genuinely shocked. Nate felt tears welling up again.

"You can stay here as long as you like then. Nothing will ever hurt you again. Nothing. I'll protect you like my son." Nate felt childish joy in his heart. He automatically trusted him, and vowed to do anything for him.

He said a few words more, then walked out of the room, leaving Nate to reflect and recover.

Days turned into weeks and weeks into years. Nate quickly recovered, and became a grunt for the still very new Team Blasters. Keith was always there for him, helping him and protecting him, just as he said he would.

As Nate laid back in the makeshift bed, staring up at the tiles, he imagined Keith coming into the room and setting him free. He imagined Keith firing Aaron. What a day that would be.

But he knew that would never happen. If Nate guessed right, his new 'friends' were prisoners from the Combiomorph war. He knew from the start that that little militia never stood a chance against Team Blasters. There were a good number of revolutionary combiomorphs, however, and if his transformation started when they started coming in the front door, it would be awhile before Keith arrived since he always guided from the back of the line.

He would be transformed long before Keith got to base.

He sighed as he continued counting the ceiling tiles.

There really was no hope.

I was floating in a stranger darkness than the one I usually went to when I was knocked out. This darkness I felt I had visited before, but I couldn't remember when. It was like there was someone else here with me, but I couldn't tell who it was or where it was at. I heard a vague whisper from behind me, and whirled, but no one was there. I drifted for a few more moments, until I heard the whisper again. It was louder this time.

"Come."

I found myself being pulled through the blackness. I couldn't stop it or slow it; it was like I was on a roller coaster. I searched for anything to stop it, but there was nothing. Seconds later, I was slammed to a stop. The sudden stillness terrified me more than being pulled against my will.

"Who's there?" I asked.

"Don't act like you don't know me," a voice barked as colors appeared in front of me. They swirled and twisted into one another as an Arcanine materialized in front of me. It was gray in color, and was covered in scars. I instantly recognized it.

"Instinct!" I said. "B-But…I thought…"

"You thought you could get rid of me that easily? No, there's no way you could ever get rid of me. Even if you did, you'd be nothing." I was frozen to my spot, unbelieving.

"I'd be just as much me as I ever was without you!" The Instinct snickered.

"Yes, you would be yourself…but you'd be dead." I was speechless. I glared at it. "You're such a waste of life, I don't know why Mew brought you back…"

"How do you know about that?" I barked. I'd told no one ever since that happened. The Instinct laughed.

"We'll get to that in a moment. When was the first time you noticed me?" the Instinct asked. It was hard to think back, so much had happened. After a few moments, though, I finally remembered.

"I was a Poochyena…you took over me in that battle with the Team Blasters grunt…My memory had been washed, but then I remembered. And I became an Arcanine."

"Very good," the Instinct said. "You have a good memory. Now back to your question. It is not my choice to dwell in your body, or to show you your overwhelming weakness."

"Who's is it?" I asked, confused. If it wasn't the Instinct choice to act as an Instinct, then it wasn't really an instinct at all, was it? And then…if it was told to dwell in me…was there something even stronger than it?

"Mew's," it answered. "And you are right, I am not an instinct. Your foolish pet name for me is not close to what I really am." I gaped. _Mew? But Mew brought me back! Why would he give me this to deal with! Who is this guy, anyway?_

"I-I…"

"Silence! Just know that you can never get rid of me, no matter what you do! Allow the running incident to be an example of that. More will be revealed to you in coming days, by order of Mew." Before I could say anything else, he faded away into the darkness.

Moments later, I was surrounded by blinding red light. I was ripped from the darkness and I felt myself solidifying on solid ground. All of my pain was strangely gone. Like nothing had ever happened. I looked over my fur and paws, but every last scrape had disappeared.

"Wow! They really fixed you up, Archy!" I heard a girl's voice say. I looked up to see my new trainer standing next to me. She ran her hand through my mane. "You're all better." Trench the Flygon was standing next to her.

"Did I pass agility training?" I asked him as I tried to shun the meeting with the Instinct…or whatever…to the back of my mind. He gaped as he moved his wings a bit. I could see the strain of moving them on his expression. He was probably next to go through the magic Pokemon Center healing machine, which I assumed I had gone through.

"Uh, yeah, I think you did," he sputtered.

"Just as I expected."

**A/N 2: **I've had this goal for a long time, but now is the time to share it with you all, I am looking to get at least two thousand reviews on this story before the end of the year. Well, there's my goal, review if you'd like to, and I do enjoy getting criticism. Until next chapter, see ya!


	65. Impending Change

**A/N: **-YAAAWWWWN- Chapter written from 11:30 PM to 1:00 AM. Very tired. Sorry for shortness.

Thank you to ultima-owner, NewProphecy, EspyJones678, DunMP, Electra the Pikachu (thank you for your OC), and Namadu for reviewing. Enjoy!

**Chapter 64:** Impending Change

"Get up, time for your ceremony." It was one of the older grunts that had come to summon Nate; one of the big, burly types that could block an entire doorframe with their bulk. Nate didn't actually know him, save from a few missions where the burly man had been a part of the team. He suspected that he would be promoted soon; escorting the doomed was something only well respected grunts could do.

He grabbed Nate by the arm, yanking him up from the sad excuse for a bed. "This way," he grunted. Nate glared at him, but didn't try to shake loose. He carefully went over the all-too-familiar hallway, searching for something that may be his saving grace. Something out of the ordinary.

It couldn't be too bad to want an escape route in the final moments, could it?

Up ahead, he could see a number of strange looking beasts filing into the auditorium. Some had wings, others were disformed, still others appeared to be made out of strange materials. Each one wore a look or sorrow on its face. Nate felt sick as he watched them walk by.

They were combiomorphs, the combiomorph war was officially over. Nate couldn't imagine what would happen now that they were all back here. He'd heard Keith had been planning something spectacular, and Nate wanted a part in it just as much as he wanted to avoid it at all costs.

When Nate and the older grunt passed through the midst of the combiomorphs, Nate could see that their line extended far out the entrance. Keith was at the very back. There was no way he would get there in time to stop Nate's transformation.

"They've got somethin' special fer you, I hear," the older grunt said as he ushered Nate down a side hallway.

"Oh yeah?" Nate asked, hoping to distract him enough that he could slip away. The man's hand held tight on his arm.

"Yeh! You're gonna be first in a line of new combios. It's a band new experience, good luck livin through it. First experiments don't never live." Nate frowned as he remembered some of the earlier experiments. Danica was one of them, Keith had used his own sister to test his serum with. She hadn't died, just transformed beyond humanity.

"Danica lived," Nate pointed out. Burly stopped for a moment then, gazing off into space.

"Huh, guess you're right. But that 'un was made by th' Boss. This 'un was made by order o' th' Boss. Our scientists ain't all that great, y'know?" Nate nodded. As Burly spoke, his hand was getting a bit less tight on Nate's arm. Nate smirked, he just needed a bit more distraction.

"Sure I know. I also know how I'm not going to die."

"Do ya now?" Burly had turned to look at Nate, curious of his answer. He dropped his guard.

"Yes, like this." Nate pulled his arm free from his grasp and shot it straight up in an uppercut. The hit surprised him, and he recoiled, but he recovered quickly. His muscles tensed as his eyes filled with red fury.

"Why you!" he screamed as he shot a fist out at Nate. He easily dodged, then jumped and kicked Burly right in the chest. He dove to avoid a shot to his face, and then swung his legs, effectively tripping him. Burly tried to get to his feet, but Nate was already gone.

Nate stumbled down the small hallway, breathing heavily as he took turns this way and that, trying to find the way back to the main hallway. He'd never been in this part of the facility before, and he cursed himself for not exploring the facility thoroughly. He could hear Burly bellowing his name behind him. Lost as he was, that was definitely NOT the way to go.

After a few more twists and turns, he saw a door open at the end of a hallway that led to some larger area. Larger areas were good; he knew how to get to the main hallway from all the larger areas. He ran towards it as fast as he could. Just before he got out, he felt a strong hand grab onto his uniform from the back. "What gives!" he groaned as he turned. Executive Aaron stood behind him, a giant smile covering his face.

"Figured you'd do something like this," he said happily. "Too predictable. Running to Daddy. Hah! We shoulda offed you the first day you came in."

"Let go of me!" Nate growled as he attempted to kick Aaron. He easily dodged.

"So violent…I thought you were taught better. Pokemon are for fighting, not our fists."

"I don't need a Pokemon to defeat you," Nate said and tried to whirl. Aaron was holding him too tightly for his strategy to be effective.

"Oh? You want to fight? No, I'm not here for a fight. I'm here to give you this." Aaron twisted Nate around so that the boy was facing him. Nate tried to push away, but the man was much stronger than he looked. He pulled a syringe out of his pocket. It was full of a strange, purplish mixture. Nate struggled harder, pulling with all his might.

He wasn't strong enough.

The syringe plunged deep into the crook of his elbow, and Aaron slowly pushed the plunger down.

* * *

Gregor slid quickly through the open window. Light had crept over the horizon minutes ago. Out of breath, Gregor crashed to the ground, collapsing. "Have a nice flight?" Gregor glanced up to see Rachel standing over him.

"If you count being shot at as being a _nice flight_." Gregor pulled himself up, shuffling his feathers back into place. Rachel gave him a look that demanded details. With a sigh, Gregor began his story of all that happened while he'd been out searching for Celli.

"…And Marius should be here any minute," Gregor finished. "He's with his friends too."

"Wow, so he's finally back. Wish we could have found Celli first…" Rachel smiled. "I guess you don't really have Celli to yourself anymore either then."

Gregor gave her a strange look. "What do you mean?" he asked. She laughed a little.

"The way you've been acting, don't act like you don't know…"

"OH! I knew it!" Both Rachel and Gregor jumped with shock when Rain ran up ibetween them. "I knew it! I knew it!"

Gregor flushed. "What, uh, do you exactly know?" he asked.

"THAT THEY SERVE PIZZA HERE FOR BREAKFAST! I HAVEN'T HAD PIZZA SINCE I WAS HUUUUMMMMAAAAANNNNNN." Gregor blinked a few times.

"Uh…" he mumbled, not sure of what to say.

"I don't get you guys," Rain said as she turned away. "You were human, like me, but have pretty much given up on becoming human again. I mean, do you even care about your humanity anymore? Hah! The human world was terrible for me and my boyfriend, but I'd still go back there in an instant. What could be so horrible for you both that you don't want to return? You WANT to be pixels for the rest of your life? Cuz, uh, that's what you sort of are." Gregor and Rachel stared at her, gaping.

"R-Rain…are you still you…?" Rachel asked. Rain rolled her eyes.

"Forget it. PIZZA!" With that, Rain scurried over to the table that was set up in the middle of the room. Timothy had ordered pizza earlier, on a strange craving. Everyone else was sharing it with him. Gregor sighed.

"You know what? She's right. We've been gone so long…I can't imagine what our parents are like now. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a kid. We're straying from our ultimate goal…we have been for a long time. We need to get home," Gregor said. "I know we can't return until Rain's feather* thing starts working…but we need to find a way to get it to work. There's so much that we haven't done yet. For starters, I don't know much about any of the Pokemon we've been traveling with."

"Agreed," Rachel said. "But what about Celli?"

Gregor smiled. "If Celli's still the same girl I know from the human world, she'll be back. And she'll be back soon."

(*- Upon entrance to the Pokemon world, Rain was given a feather that would light the way once it was time to return to the human world)

* * *

"What idiot starts at a new region with strong Pokemon!" I asked Trench as we walked into Oreburgh City. The place was dark with smoke and ash. I could hardly breathe.

"An idiot with plans to be a Pokemon Master. I don't see why more trainers do it this way," Trench said. I rolled my eyes.

"There's no challenge…I must say I prefer challenge when battling a gym leader. If we're all strong, there's no point! Let's skip to the harder gymd."

Trench grinned. "You aren't that strong, you know. I think her Pokedex said you were level 26. Roark's Rampardos might actually do a number on you," he said. I growled at him; if he wasn't level 70, I may have tried to take him on then and there.

There weren't that many people out and about today, even the mines seemed much less busy than I expected them to be. From the looks of it, almost everyone was inside their house with the lights on. Was it an off day for them? Did this mean the gym would be closed too? I groaned, the last thing I needed was _another _setback keeping me away from Hoenn. It was bad enough as it was already.

"Does she do any last minute training?" I asked Trench.

"Of course," he replied. I groaned.

_Well, I won't let the Instinct get to me this time…_


	66. The Rise

A/N: Uh…boo?

**Chapter 65: **The Rise

The floor was shaking. I had to keep my claws pinned into the cheap carpet with every step or else risk falling. Given that everyone around me was asleep and pulled into tight quarters, several hundred pounds of furry mass would probably not be welcome.

I moved carefully down the center aisle, trying to step in sync with the rocking of the cabin.

I guess I forgot to mention. I was on a train. One of the high tech ones speeding out of Hearthome. According to the signs we passed before boarding, we would be in Sunyshore City by morning to take the first airplane out to Hoenn.

Why the sudden rush to Hoenn? How'd I get on a train?

Good questions.

Three days ago, I beat Soren the oh-so-amazing Flygon to a bleeding, pussy pulp. Let's just say he touched a loose wire of mine when I finally felt I could trust him enough to tell him about my, ahem, previous life as a human. He got the whooping he deserved and our trainer finally realized that maybe something was wrong with her Pokedex. Level 26? Try 86.

Okay, 65. But whatever. So Soren was down and I'm fairly sure that fire in his eyes wasn't a fever. More like the biggest rage of his life. Directed toward yours truly, of course. Now that I think back, I could bet you anything Instinct had some sort of huge, gruesome grin on his face. Proud of my, er, violent action.

The trainer girl was speechless. You see, when I beat Soren up we were in the middle of a PokeMart. Just casually buying a few Potions and what have you for the road ahead. We were sitting outside, waiting for her to come out so we could take off. We'd just earned the Oreburgh City badge and had a lot of ground to cover if we were going to meet the deadline for the Pokemon League Tournament.

So then the conversation starting become intimate and I dropped my secret on him. He proceeded to insult me, my friends, and my family on top of that. I didn't have any right to being a Pokemon, he said, as though I cared what his idiotic opinion on the subject would be.

Just for the record, he attacked first. Put me out of my misery, he said.

Basically everything went exactly opposite than what he planned.

When the trainer lady came out, I booked it. She was calling "Archie! Archie!" over and over again. Or maybe that was just in my head since I can cover nearly a mile in under a minute with Extremespeed.

In any case, I left. It was time for the fiasco to be over. I needed to get back to my friends. I needed to solve this mystery. I needed to escape the Pokemon world and discover my true purpose as a human.

I sped to Hearthome, spent two days gathering my bearings and making my plans, and snuck on a train.

So this brings me back to what I told you earlier.

I continued my near-silent trek across the carpet, using my whole body to feel the air around me. No one stirred. I was safe. After a long while, my nose finally pressed again the cold metal of the connecting door. I grasped the lever-like handle in my jaws and pulled it down. There was a soft click and I began pushing the door to the right. The moment I did, the cabin became exposed to the wind. It rushed inside, picking up papers and throwing them aside like junk mail.

The wind buffeted loudly against the door, but no one awoke. I pushed my nose outside, then my whole head and the rest of my body before shutting the door tight.

I stood now on the connecting platform between the sleeping car and the dining car. I cringed as the icy metal fought with my flaming body heat, but tried my best to ignore it. After all, this was my destination.

I stared out into the lawless night. The moon ruled this realm, shrouding everything in its shimmering half-light. In this realm, I felt comfortable. Hidden. Safe. The train passed house after house, backs of stores covered in graffiti, the occasional pothole ridden road, and in the distance, the bright lights of the airport.

The train would be stopping in a few miles, but my stop was now. This was how I had boarded the train, and it would be how I left it. I bundled the muscles in legs as I lowered my body to the platform. I readied myself to jump and waited, staring intently into the night. I took a few deep breaths, watching the graffiti merge across the buildings into a single exotic play of dancing and laughter.

And then I jumped.

If you've never leaped from a speeding train, I have to recommend it. For those few seconds you're in the air, it's like you're weightless. Your stress is gone. It's just amazing. I really can't describe it.

But it's the landing part that shocks you back into reality. Despite my best efforts to land paws first, I ended up skidding to a halt on my side through the freshly dewed grass. I shook it off easily enough and glanced up at the white shop wall in front of me.

"Freedom" was scrawled in ragged lettering. I smiled for a moment before turning toward the roadway right next to the store. "I'm almost there, guys," I whispered. The sudden stillness of the night seemed to make my words vibrate and come alive, so I ran with them. I sprinted down the old road, passing a few people on sidewalks, but moving so fast that they could have only felt a breeze. Ahead of me, the airport continued to grow larger and larger. I could even hear the sound of giant engines roaring to life as plane after plane entered the clear sky.

"Almost there." Over and over again. "Almost there."

"So does everyone understand the plan?"

Gregor and Rachel glanced at each other, then back to the Jolteon/Vaporeon creature standing in front of everyone with a giant stick in her hand. Marius had called her Lauren, but no one was really used to the new extended group. Except for Timothy. He'd spent the last few days getting as much alone time on the town as he possibly could. Poor kid. Now, everyone was gathered to discuss the battle strategy.

"Not really…" Rachel shook her head as a purple tone entered her blue cheeks. Lauren pointed her stick at the Wartortle, causing Rachel to back away a few inches.

"Why the heck not? Thought I made it pretty clear, ya know." The Jolteon spikes lining her neck rose a bit.

"Yeah, but, uh, they have missiles. And they are probably tracking us." Rachel frowned. "You, at least, since you're an ex-Admin of Team Blasters. Makes sense, right?" Almost everyone in the room nodded. Marius was the only one not to give a yes or a no. He sat in silence, watching with a look of thoughtfulness in his eyes.

"Didn't you say they recently defeated a whole army of superpowered types like you?" Seth put in while rubbing his claws over his arm blades, pressing it into his scales.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Hardly an army. They just called themselves that. There couldn't have been more than fifty members separated into maybe five or six chapters. No surprise they were defeated when you see it that way." Seth grunted, but nodded anyway.

"How would we be better than them?" Gregor asked.

Lauren's tail lashed excitedly when he spoke. "With my intel, of course!"

"And mine." Crimson floated next to Lauren as she spoke. "I've been watching these woods for decades; I've watched them build their agency from the ground up."

Rachel got up and walked toward Lauren. "You avoided my question. Are they tracking you?"

"Wouldn't matter," she answered quickly. "I will be the decoy while the rest of you destroy the HQ. And that means every last piece of data that place has. No more combiomorphs, no more plans, and most importantly, no more control. They'll fall apart in an instant."

"Worth a try." Everyone in the room turned when Marius spoke, his voice loud and clear over the minor chatting going on throughout the room.

Gregor gave him a strange look. "Don't you think we should wait for Celli? I mean…we're a team."

Marius's eyes turned downcast as he walked toward the front of the room, his shows clicking on the wooden floor. "We can't. There's no way to know when she will come back. If she will. We need to go on while we still can."

The young Pidgeot opened his beak to protest, but soon looked away and sighed. "I know you're right…but…"

"Keep going forward." Marius smiled at him, and then turned to Lauren. "Tomorrow, we will attack when dusk hits. Can you be ready by then?"

Electricity seemed to leap from the girl's body. "More than ready."

"How long has he been out?"

A young man in a stained lab coat moved his finger quickly over a piece of paper covered in handwritten notes until at last finding several tally marks in the bottom left corner. "Five." His eyes panned over the sprawled out form on the bed. It was a teenager, one with feathers, four sets of wings, and a long, blue tail with red spikes on the end. He was hooked up to several machines running at full power to keep him alive.

The man standing next to the scientist had on a black suit, but it did little to hide his odd features. The Alakazam/Espeon combio could never hope to truly hide his identity.

"Commander Keith…" the scientist began again as the man began running his fingers along the small feathers on the teen's arm. "He may not wake up. I'm sorry."

"Tomorrow," the Team Blasters leader muttered. "We can check again."

"Yes, sir." The two of them moved toward the door, but Keith had to look back. The teen looked incredibly healthy despite his new Pokemon-like features. He felt that he could awaken any moment.

Keith left the room and headed for his office to tend to his duties as leader while the scientist went back to monitoring medical equipment.

He glanced down at the young man for only a moment while re-covering him with his blanket. But he couldn't take his eyes away. The teen's – Nate's – eyes were open. Wide open.

And they were dark.

A storm was raging in his blue eyes, and the scientist couldn't look away.

Nate was moving, sitting up. He tried out all of his new features. The wings moved together in perfect unison. The tail twitched and swung with the slightest of thought. He could even feel his new draconic power raging through his body. It felt good. So good.

"Hey," he said as he looked over the scientist that was leaning over him. "Boo."

The man recoiled backward, stunned. "You were just…" The teen's eyes were rapidly becoming darker as he clenched the sides of the bed with feathery hands.

"I was, huh?" Nate felt a deep growl rumble through his throat as he climbed out of the bed, testing his feet. His hands transformed swiftly into pointed claws that glinted in the artificial light. He grinned as he thrust the claws to his side, digging them deeply into the scientist's abdomen.

He pulled his hand back and stared at the dripping blood on his claws, laughing even as the scientist fell to the floor.

"Fantastic!"


End file.
